TODO:

• Create a TODO List

Preliminary list:

Hardware design

• Mini Digital board (main board)
  • Build/test/debug the second iteration, and finalize the design. Order a few hundred
• Mini Analog board (parameter-analyzer converter
  • Build/test/debug quick-and-dirty version
  • Make new revision with
    • Bug fixes
    • Better layout
    • More power-supply independent
    • Cheaper, more accurate, etc.
• Eventually, high-speed board. Probably FPGA+high speed DAC/ADC. Ideally: $50 price point, capable of 100MSPS scope and function generator, 10 bits accuracy at DC, 6-8 bits at high-speed. Alternative architecture: Possibly, SRAM directly talking to ADC/DAC. Clock driving SRAM+ADC+DAC. Computer can read from SRAM. This version needs filters for frequency range (FPGA version could store min/max, and computer could draw a bar)

Firmware design

• Rewrite the Mini microcode so that it is:
  • Interrupt-based, for performance
  • Port or rewrite parameter analyzer code to the Mini
  • Optionally, make a super-accurate version that does slow conversions, and sleeps during the conversion
• ...

Software design

• Write server integrated into iLabs architecture
• Port existing clients to work with the Mini, or write new clients.

Architectural design

Long-term: Design a safe architecture where the server is generic to different kinds of experiments (op-amp, parameter analyzer, etc.). This should still do enough parsing that the client should not be able to cause buffer overflows, overvoltage conditions, etc. on the Mini.

Pedagogical

• Design labs around the Mini.

Unsorted