A smartphone functions as an Oscilloscope and Signal Generator, is named as “Oscillaphone”. Smartphones are portable, powerful and secured platforms, you can blend this device as a it needs. Loboat a French electronics student from Paris made this device, for electronics students who can’t afford to buy a new Oscilloscope and a Signal Generator.
Oscilloscopes and Signal generator are two essential devices to create and test electronic circuits, unfortunately these two devices are very expensive, the idea here is simple a smartphone is able to simulate an oscilloscope and a signal generator for your electronics circuit. Here, the phone is not just an accessory or a remote control it’s the center of the project and a tool helping you to create!!
How an Oscillaphone works?
To brief how a Oscillaphone works, connect a male jack to the phone and female jack to the circuit and you have to test the proper operation of the signal generator, connect a signal generator output power, and generate a low frequency sinusoidal signal (between 300Hz to 1KHz). Sound should start from the speaker, becoming more and more acute when the applied frequency becomes higher.
A more rigorous tests are conducted to visualize a signal from the signal generator output on a professional oscilloscope, and comparing the output of a professional signal generator. The result is quite impressive, but the output signal is comparatively low for a professional signal generator, but remains usable and accurate enough. The oscilloscope input for this module works perfectly, and signals can be visualized on the smartphone, using the oscilloscope app.
There are many possible improvements in this model, if a phone is highly protected from high voltages of electronic circuit. You can protect it by using galvanic isolation Optocouplers. These components use light to transmit a signal and thereby completely isolating the phone. Another concern is on the power supply circuit. Currently, the circuit is powered by a DIY ATX power supply. An integrated power supply in the housing could improve the portability of the project.
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