PC, Tablet & Phone-Based Mobile Instrumentation for Education
The purpose of this page is to provide relatively easy access to the various options an educator might consider who wishes to build a learning environment for their students based on a mobile instrumentation platform. This market space is rapidly changing. We do our best to keep this page up-to-date. If you know of any products we have missed or information we have posted incorrectly, please let us know.
PC-Based
Mobile Studio (NY)
- Mobile Studio Project The Mobile Studio, designed and built by faculty and students at RPI, with outstanding assistance from key engineers at Analog Devices, helped establish the amazing potential of the new pedagogical choices available to educators who wish to add hands-on activities for their students. It is no longer available for sale. Full disclosure - this site is maintained by the present director of the Mobile Studio Project.
National Instruments (TX)
- myDAQ (16-bit, 200KSPS, $199 and up, with many options)
- USB-6800 (12-bit, 10KSPS, $169) Multi-function DAQ
- USB-6210 (16-bit, 250KSPS, $629) Multi-function DAQ, Bus-powered
- USB-5132 (8-bit, 50MSPS, $900) Bus-Powered Digitizer/Oscilloscope
- USB-5133 (8-bit, 100MSPS, $1200) Bus-Powered Digitizer/Oscilloscope
- Academic Program (Discounts for hardware are typically 25%)
- Beagleboard a low cost OMAP3530 based board/kit intended for use for ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT, DEMONSTRATION, OR
EVALUATION PURPOSES ONLY. It is possible to configure a scope, function generator, etc. using this board.
Syscomp Electronic Design (Ontario)
- CircuitGear Mini ($99 2MS/s dual channel, 11-bit oscilloscope, 200 kHz DDS arbitrary waveform generator)
- CircuitGear (10bit, 20MSPS, $189) Oscilloscope, Standard Function Generator, Arbitrary Waveform Generator, Network Analyzer, Noise Generator, Digital Inputs and Outputs, PWM Output -- They also provide a lot of educational materials since this has been in use in Canada for a while.
- Found many references to this device while searching on 'CircuitGear Review' including some eBay type sales that were not going well at $175. Looks like a well thought out product.
Digilent (WA)
- Analog Discovery 2-Channel Oscilloscope, 2-Channel Waveform Generator, 16-Channel Logic Analyzer, 16-Channel Digital Pattern Generator, ±5VDC Power Supplies, Spectrum Analyzer, Network Analyzer, Voltmeter, Digital I/O, Now supported by MATLAB / MATLAB student edition
- EE Board oscilloscopes, waveform generators, power supplies, voltmeters, reference voltage generators, and thirty-two digital signals that can be configured as a logic analyzer, pattern generator, or any one of several static digital I/O devices. $299 for student, $399 academic
- NEXYS2 FPGA development board can be configured as scope, etc. (done at Rose-Hulman)
- ECEDHA Webinar March 2010
Velleman (TX)
HobbyLab (WA, product from Russia)
- Disco (10bit, 1MSPS, $130) Oscilloscope, Logic analyzer, Spectrum analyzer, Recorder and Logic generator
- Disco-2 (10bit, 1MSPS, $170) Greater dynamic range and a few other features than Disco.
USBee (CA)
- USBee Logic Analyzer, Oscilloscope and Bus Analyzers -- Very good logic instrumentation, adds oscilloscope in models from $545 to $1495
Oscium (OK)
- MSO-104 is the first mixed signal oscilloscope designed specifically for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. $298
Parallax (CA)
- PropScope 2 input channels, 25 Msps Maximum Sample Rate, 20 Vpp maximum input range (-10 V to +10 V when DC-coupled), 10-bit input resolution over either the entire 20 Vpp range, or selectable 10, 2, and 1 Vpp ranges, 1x/10x selectable probes $199.99
USB Instruments (UK)
- DS1M12 Stingray (12-bit, 1MSPS, $220) 2+1 Channel PC Digital Oscilloscope / Logger (extra channel can be waveform generator or trigger) Analog BW 250kHz
- High volume price under $200 (from EasySync)
PicoScope (UK)
- 2203 (8-bit, 20MSPS, $260) USB Scope and AWG
- 2205 (8-bit, 100MSPS, $490) USB Scope and AWG
- Education Kit (includes 2205, $650)
Bitscope (Australia)
- 325 (8-bit, 40MSPS, $695) USB Scope
Link Instruments (NJ)
- DSO8000 (8-bit, 250MSPS, $800) USB Scope & Spectrum Analyzer
Hantek (China)
- DSO-5200 (8-bit, 200MSPS, $400-500) USB Scope
softDSP (Korea)
- SDS 200A (8-bit, 50MSPS, $) USB Storage Scope
TiePie (Netherlands)
- Handyscope HS3-5 (8-bit, 50MSPS,$920) USB Storage Scope, Spectrum Analyzer, Transient Recorder, Multimeter
Quant Asylym (WA, China)
- QA100 (Dual Channel Oscilloscope, 10-bit ADC, 100Msps, Logic Analyzer) $349
CleverScope (NZ)
- CS328A-XS USB 2.0 oscilloscope - 14 bit 100 MSa/s, 2 analog channels, 8 digital inputs, External Trigger, 8M samples storage for each of the 2 analog and 8 digital channels, CS700 Signal Generator (0-10MHz, Sine, Square, Triangle). Complete with the CS300 application software, 2 x CS1001 and CS1004/5 probe sets. The front panel ground is continuous via the USB ground to the PC. $2192
SainSmart (KS, China)
- DDS120 Silver USB Oscilloscope Digital Storage 20MHz Bandwidth $99.99
Virtins Technology (SG)
Tenma (China)
- DSO2090 40 MHz 2 Channel USC Oscilloscope $239
Tablet & Phone-Based
NFX Development
ONYX Apps
- OscilloscopeApp (Apple App) - $10 for app, $49 for audio hardware such as Numark STEREO|iO. Also requires some adapters and cables.
LabNation
- SmartScope (Belgium, China) (multiple platforms, including PC) - $179 and up
Online Discussions of PC-Based Instruments
Updated 4 February 2014
Email for Comments and Suggestions
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