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

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