Home Product Articles Designing the COMA

Designing the COMA

Let your mind enter a state of deep unconsciousness, imagine that instrument you have always desired, an instrument capable of performing multiple tasks, data acquisition, signal generation, and much, much more. Imagine no more because this instrument is finally here. The COMA.

COMA - The All in One Instrument

Calculator
Oscilloscope
Multimeter
Analyzer
Design files provided for reference only
HW Block Diagram sch_icon code-icon forums
Diagrams Schematics Code Forums

The COMA was my entry to Microchip's PIC32 contest. It was also an idea I had back in my academic years. I always wished of integrating a calculator, multimeter and a calculator in a single portable device. With the PIC32 contest I saw an opportunity for developing my project while getting a chance to win free prizes!

The initial features and specifications:

Main Features:

  • 2 Channel, 8bit 16MSPS Oscilloscope
  • FFT on acquired data
  • 8 Channel Logic Analyzer
  • Arbitrary Signal Generator
  • Frequency Generator
  • Multimeter:
  • Volt Meter, 1 M ohm Input impedance
Voltage Ranges Ammeter More Features
+/- 204.8V, 400mV sensitivity +/- 10.24A, 20mA sensitivity 0.2 ohm series Ohmmeter / continuity test
+/- 20.48V, 40mV sensitivity +/- 204.8mA , 400uA sensitivity 10 ohm series L/C Meter
+/- 2.56V, 5mV sensitivity +/- 2.048mA, 4uA sensitivity 10 ohm series Logic probe
+/- 256mV, 500uV sensitivity +/- 20.48mA, 40uA sensitivity 100 ohm series Frequency meter
+/- 204.8uA, 0.4uA sensitivity 100 ohm series Transistor check
  • Calculator, able to do math on real-time data
  • Graphic LCD 128x128
  • SD Card for data storage
  • Optional connection to PC via USB or RS-232

Oscilloscope:

  • 2 Analog Channels
  • Input Impedance: 1M ohm
  • Maximum Input Voltage: +/- 25V
  • A/D Converter Resolution: 8 bits
  • Maximum Sampling Rate: 16MS/s shared
The COMA was among the eight finalists, unfortunetely it didn't win. But the design of the COMA is still active.

Here are some images and videos of the COMA prototype:

Coma Block Diagram

COMA Prototype

 


Wish List:

  • Mini Spice Simulator
  • Engineering Notes
  • Mini Labview kind application
  • Games
  • MOD/MP3 Player

The COMA will be the ultimate engineering tool!

Comments

avatar zwaaier
Great idea Gabriel.
A shame it did not win the contest, but finishng the project will be the ultimate victory !

I do have a questionmark also: "Calculator, able to do math on real-time data", I am not sure what to imagine here ....., could it mean that when you are measuring a value from the scope a calculation with that value gets updated in real time while the graph on the scope changes ?
avatar ganzziani
Yes, I was thinking that you could have a math equation that uses a variable which feeds from an analog input. A simple example would be using a thermocouple, you could write an equation to convert the analog input value to the correct temperature in Celsius. This will allow you to monitor the temperature in Celsius in real time.
avatar Imedia
I agree that COMA is a great idea. I am very interested in the potential to interface all measurements to a PC via USB. To me this is even of greater importance than the LCD display. This allows for post processing on PC. Storing of data, etc. I would like to discuss this and explore possibilities.
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Last Updated on Friday, 15 January 2010 13:22  

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