PlainDAQ: DAQ Module For Raspberry Pi Pico

Alperen a Hardware Engineer from Kuncu Teknoloji, Turkey has built PlainDAQ, open source DAQ adapter board for Raspberry Pi PICO.

It has a precision, low-noise, low-drift 12-bit 500k sps/s ADC (Microchip MCP33151). To reduce noise and maintain precision, all analog inputs are buffered and driven with high-speed/low-noise differential amplifier.

It also has one channel 10-bit DAC which helps create analog outputs or even waveforms as it can output 50 k samples per second with a range of +-4V.

PlainDAQ generates ±5 V voltages to offer bipolar power supply, which is a bit of a challenge to generate.

PlainDAQ includes a precision voltage reference with 20 ppm/°C drift. Each PlainDAQ is calibrated with DMM7510 before shipment and later when in use, can be calibrated with proper equipment and calibration data could be store in the EEPROM present on the board.

PlainDAQ will also come with an option of BLE connectivity for capturing the data which makes it easy to implement wireless dataloggers, temperature loggers or any parameter monitoring solution.

Technical Specifications

Analog Inputs

4 Channels (multiplexed), 12-bit resolution, 72 dB SNR (11.6 ENOB, 4000:1 dynamic range)*
500 k Samples /s
±0.5 V, ±1 V, ±2 V, ±4 V bipolar ranges
Auto-off calibration

Analog Output

1 Channel, 10-bit resolution, 50 k Samples/s, ±4 V bipolar range

Voltage Reference

2.5 V, 20 ppm/°C (Typical) Drift
Calibrate to 0.05 %, Stored in as ROM as calibration data

Bipolar Voltage Supply:

±5 V, ±100 mA current rating.

Connectivity

Simple UART interface to Raspberry Pico
2.4 GHz Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth BLE 4.2 Via ESP module
Shipped with ESP AT firmware

Connections

Screwless Terminals (10 Pins)

Applications

PlainDAQ is useful in many ways, including analog signal capture with analog inputs, analog waveform generation with the analog output, and data visualization with Python software.
With PlainDAQ you can automate waveform generation and capturing with Python scripting and do analog circuit experimentation. It will characterize frequency response, step response and pulse response of analog circuits. It can also do wireless data logging and powering analog circuits that require negative voltages.
Temperature logger (or any other parameter)
Industrial Process Monitoring (analog inputs) and actuator control (DAC output)