The excitement about Digilent’s new Analog Discovery 3 is spreading, and Dave from EEVblog has a lot to say about the latest iteration of our popular product line. This new version features several improvements over its predecessor, the Analog Discovery 2, and aims to provide even more value to its users. The device is gaining popularity, especially in educational settings, and has become a favorite among students.
Dave was really impressed with the hardware features and praised the attention to detail in the AD3’s design, such as the use of rubber feet with curved slots for secure attachment and the thoughtful arrangement of components. And you’re right Dave, we do take pride in our designs!
One of the significant upgrades is the adoption of a USB-C interface, providing a more modern and versatile connection. Additionally, the system clock is now adjustable, allowing users to match sample rates more effectively. The hardware has been upgraded, featuring a more powerful Spartan 7 FPGA, which enables new functionalities that were not possible with the previous version.
The Analog Discovery 3 comes with a 14-bit ADC and DAC, providing high-resolution data acquisition and signal generation capabilities. The device also offers hardware filters for each input, expanding its flexibility in processing signals. With the increased sample buffer size and improved filtering, users can now perform more advanced tasks efficiently.
Next, we see Dave demonstrating the software capabilities of the AD3. He uses the Waveform Generator (Wavegen) to generate signals, which can be customized with various waveforms, including DC, sine, square, triangle, ramps, noise, pulse, trapezium, and more. The software allows users to adjust amplitude, frequency, offset, and other parameters, offering great flexibility. He also shows how the ADC and Wavegen can be interconnected. Dave feeds the output of Wavegen Channel 1 back into ADC Channel 1, filter it, and then output it again on Wavegen Channel 2, demonstrating the real-time capabilities of the device.
This video showcases the waveform memory options and the trade-offs between memory depth and update rates. Dave also demonstrates how the Wavegen can be set to a certain percentage of the input signal, adding a voltage offset, and applying a time-based damping function.
We love that Dave is enthusiastic about the potential for educational use and automation, with scripting and integration with other tools like Matlab and National Instruments’ software.
One of our favorite moments comes at 36:25, when Dave is *mind blown* when he realizes you can modulate the power supply based on what you read for your analog input. “YOU CAN FEED IT BACK UP ITS OWN CLACKER!”
Dave goes on to showcase various capabilities of the AD3, including an XYZ plot and a 3D spectrogram. He also mentions the availability of other functionalities like a logic analyzer, pattern generator, network analyzer, and impedance analyzer. Dave praises the software capabilities and expresses that it’s worth the price, considering the extensive features it offers.
Digilent is proud of the enhancements made to the Analog Discovery 3 and believes it will continue to be a popular choice among students and professionals who seek a powerful, compact, and flexible instrument for their various educational and professional needs. We appreciate that Dave took the time to review it and that he sees the value of our latest in the Analog Discovery product line!
Watch Dave from EEVblog review the new Analog Discovery 3 here:
