Introduction
After a forced pause the Essential Raspberry Pi Peripherals articles series finally restarts with a new proposal. The Pi-Scope lab tool is the first of a series of tools to empower the electronic lab based on the Raspberry PI 2 , Raspberry PI lcd and Bitscope micro
There is already an interesting Ben Heck episode, Episode 223: Ben Heck’s Raspberry Pi Bitscope Mod Episode modding these three devices creating an oscilloscope. It is my opinion that this proposed version has some limitations, so I have searched how to develop a device architecture based on the Raspberry Pi integrating different features to support in the best way the daily lab activity.
First of all I aimed to make a robust support for the components keeping in the same time all the expansions ports open to any possible integration and development. It is not the first time that I try to box in a elegant way the Raspberry PI together with other parts like in this case, but this always means limiting some features of the device. The container has been based on the model presented on Instructables Raspberry PI Touch Screen Frame and Case Assembly Guide with some changes and adaptions.
Project goals
- Bitscope micro has a form-factor useful for usage as a probe with status LEDs that should remain exposed for the best use
- The touch screen should be easily accessible and visible while the oscilloscope probe can be easily used nearby to the tested parts
- The Raspberry PI ports should be easily accessible, for some kind of usages also while the oscilloscope is connected (e.g. an external keyboard)
- All the case components should be 3D printable and easy to assemble to simplify the creation of the system
- A "Super Interface" should be provided to control the different working modes of the Bit Scope software and other future tools
- The device should be able to access the Internet when needed
- The entire system should be open for future developments and enhancements
The 3D model
The images below shows the assembled model of the components (the stl files are available in attach to this article).
The front view of the model
The back view of the model
The section view of the parts
Pi-Scope in use
The following short video shows the Pi-Scope usage while testing the state of a stepper motor PWM signals
Next setps
As the Bitscope mini software is a suite of several applications it is needed a startup interface, specifically designed for the Raspberry touch screen as the main launcher when the system starts. The same interface will host software to control other tools connected to the device.
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