Arduino FIO LCD Oscilloscope

It has been 7 years (!) since I posted my PIC18F2550 KS0108 Graphical LCD Oscilloscope code and schematics. I have long since taken the circuit apart, sold my PIC microcontrollers, and moved on in my life (as one can surmise from my most recent posts detailing my graduate and postdoctoral work). However, I still get inquiries about the Microchip PIC oscilloscope, so I decided to recreate it using a simpler setup using my Arduino Fio.
Here’s a short teaser video just to show that, yes, it works (going through a couple different sine wave frequencies, some random noise, etc. just to illustrate it working):
Arduino LCD Oscilloscope
Click through the break to get more information on the setup.
I used an Arduino Fio board that I picked up from SparkFun.com (available at Amazon.com) and a small SPI graphical LCD board that I picked up for a few bucks at dx.com (SKU 153821, also apparently available at Amazon.com). Since I don’t have a soldering iron here, I had to improvise with some female to female cables, also purchased from dx.com (SKU 151650).
Dx.com describes the LCD as a 5V module, but the GLCD board designer’s page (mini12864) states otherwise (translated from Chinese via Google Translate):
And it worked!
Thankfully, the code I previously posted was written in C, so porting to the Arduino took only a few minutes. I took advantage of a great open source graphical LCD library (u8glib) to handle the brunt of the work and added a serial port menu for manipulating the various display parameters. One important difference between this project and the previous one: Since the Arduino Fio is a 3.3V device, it can only handle 0-3.3V inputs, limiting its utility as an “oscilloscope” without proper input protection/voltage scaling. However, the code is extremely portable, meaning that you should be able to program any other Arduino and have it up-and-running in no time.

For more detail: Arduino FIO LCD Oscilloscope


About The Author

Ibrar Ayyub

I am an experienced technical writer with a Master's degree in computer science from BZU Multan University. I have written for various industries, mainly home automation and engineering. My writing style is clear and simple, and I am skilled in using infographics and diagrams. I am a great researcher and am able to present information in a well-organized and logical manner.

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