BitScope Test & Measurement Workstation

BitScopes have always offered great USB Oscilloscope solutions for PC, Mac or Linux systems. More recently we updated BitScope to work seamlessly with Raspberry Pi and launched the very low cost BitScope Micro tailored specifically for Raspberry Pi owners (although it remains fully compatible with all supported host platforms).

About Raspberry Pi

The core idea was to leverage Raspberry Pi with a keyboard, mouse and monitor to build a BitScope based system for test, measurement & data acquisition.

We wanted it to be low cost, convenient to use and readily available. We started with the original Model B and worked with the Raspberry Pi team to fully optimize the platform to handle real-time display.

This work resulted in a very capable test & measurement platform using Raspberry Pi with the real-time system performance we needed to run our all our key applications.

It worked well with all BitScope models but following the release of the new BitScope Micro with element14 and then the launch of Raspberry Pi 2 earlier this year (which we reviewed) it became clear that if we could eliminate the need for a separate monitor, keyboard and mouse that we'd have the ideal embeddable test, measurement and data acquisition solution.

We had already optimized our software for use with touchscreens so...

...enter the Raspberry Pi 7" Touchscreen Display !

We were very excited yesterday to receive the long awaited Raspberry Pi 7" Touchscreen Display.

With a big thank-you to our friends at element14 we got our hands on one these fantastic little displays the day it was launched and we immediately set about putting it together and testing it. The result is this screencast which Bruce posted yesterday which shows just how easy it is to use.

The Raspberry Pi display home page has all the details and Alex Eames' RasPiTV Videos explain how to set it all up much better than we can. Bruce presented a simplified unboxing and system installation with a twist - he wall mounted the display and powered it all from a 12V battery !

Needless to say, we're impressed with this display. It's taken a while (read the launch page for all the gory details, EMC compliance can be a devil to get right!) but the end result is just what we wanted - a very low cost, high quality touchscreen display from which to make a self contained test, measurement and data acquisition system!

BitScope Blade DuoPi

Our aim went beyond just eliminating the separate monitor, keyboard and mouse; we wanted the solution to be suitable for industrial use and able to be run from any available power source.

Our soon to be released BitScope Blade boards are designed to serve just this purpose; they offer robust power and mounting solutions for Raspberry Pi and BitScope including 19" rack and DIN rail and can accept power sources from 9V to 48V directly and via POE.

One of these products (DuoPi) is perfect for the new Raspberry Pi display as it makes it possible to mount and power the Raspberry Pi, the display and up to four connected BitScopes. It is the board that Bruce used in the video to mount the Raspberry Pi display on the wall.

We'll have full information about DuoPi and the other BitScope Blade boards soon with stock expected in December.