There are a slew of electronic lab kits that can be found online to perform any number of functions but most of these only center on one tool, such as a stand-alone digital oscilloscope or logic analyzer. That means if you want to perform more than one function, you will need two or more lab boards, which not only takes up more valuable workspace but also starts to get expensive depending on the tools needed.
Why stick to a few lab boards when you could have five, all of which come packed onto a single board with a small footprint. That’s exactly what EspoTek has done with their Labrador module, which features an oscilloscope (2 channel, 750ksps), waveform generator (2 channel, 1MSPS), power supply (4.5 to 15V, 1.5W max, closed-loop), logic analyzer (2 channel, 3MSPS per channel, with serial decoding) and multimeter (V/I/R/C).
Designed by Chris Esposito, the Labrador features dedicated outputs for each tool and multiple tools can be run at the same time, however not all can be run at the same time. For example, the o-scope and logic analyzer use two channels of USB bandwidth, meaning it’s limited on the USB pass-through. You can run a two-channel scope or logic analyzer, but not two of each. Additionally, the multimeter uses all of the USB channel pass-through so it cannot be used with any other tool. That might limit some users depending on the task required.
The Labrador seems incredibly easy to use and simply plugs into a solder-less breadboard and can work with most popular operating systems (via micro USB port), including Windows, Mac, and Linux. Chris designed a custom interface that lets you interact with all waveforms on the display, making it easy for both new and advanced electronics users. The EspoTek Labrador is currently being crowd-funded on CrowdSupply and can be had for just $25, however you will have to supply your own micro USB cable.
My only critique of the board would be the o-scope frequency range. I would have liked to see it up at 50M Hz. But, the rest of it is a big draw.
See more at their Crowd Supply page.
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