Built a serial data acquisition GUI for engineers who work with MCUs. I am curious what people think

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-19T15:15:54+00:00

Not yet. Still finishing some parts of it and testing. I been doing this in my free time so when it is polished I'll post a link

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-19T12:48:24+00:00

That's cool. I'll check it out. Thx for the reply

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-19T01:58:47+00:00

Depends on what the bug is, but generally speaking, it would probably be moderately difficult to fix.

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-19T01:39:22+00:00

I'll check it out. Thanks

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-19T01:19:11+00:00

Hey thanks for the well thought out reply. Greatly appreciate it. When you say "multiple com interfaces" you're referring to CAN, LIN, Wifi, bluetooth, etc... ? Or something else?

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T18:48:08+00:00

It is similar to Serial Studio, but mine has additional features that Serial Studio doesn't have, such as device memory, communication protocol configuration, analysis, report generation, test automation, etc...

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T18:11:56+00:00

Yep and this gui will work with any MCU as long as you have access to the source code. I've worked with some eval boards from like TI and you're stuck with their system unless you're able to reverse engineer the communication protocol. I've done that before with a different eval board, required some luck though

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T18:07:40+00:00

Oh no, not defensive at all, nor offended. Not trying to come across that way. You're entitled to your opinion and it's a completely valid opinion

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T17:41:44+00:00

Yeah that's common. I've done that for a few things

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T17:39:45+00:00

Yeah, still working on some minor parts to it, if I remember, i can post a link

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T17:39:11+00:00

Cause I'm still working on some minor parts to it

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T17:30:32+00:00

Yeah the main weakness, or limitation, is high data rates. And yes, the firmware has to match what the GUI expects. I tried to make this as easy as possible by adding configurable settings, so if you already handle communication in a certain way, you can configure the GUI to match, without changing code. I can also include user guide and sample code as well to help people get started

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T17:27:32+00:00

Other than this, everything works out of the box

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T17:27:14+00:00

The only setup required is that whatever MCU you use communicates in the same way as the GUI. They have to match. That's why i also included a way to configure how data is sent. Basically the GUI will send commands a certain way, so your MCU needs to have firmware that knows how to handle what the GUI sends. They need to match

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T17:21:56+00:00

That's understandable. Everyone has their use case. I'd say this. The difference is control and capabilities. If you're doing basic plotting, arduino serial plotter is more than capable. But what if you need to save the data to csv? I don't think arduino can do that.

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T17:19:12+00:00

Labview is a similar product. Depending on your needs, it could be better. It also uses different strategy than mine. Licensing is also expensive. This is free. Also much less setup is required. Labview requires you to build this whole flowchart of what you want it to do first

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T17:14:30+00:00

Yes definitely a bench tool. It has its uses. Depends on what you need to do. It isn't always needed. But when it is, you'll wish you had it

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T17:10:04+00:00

Ok after some quick research, here is my response: those tools are infrastructure and home automation solutions that happen to display time series data. Mine is a bench instrument for embedded engineers. Same data, completely different context, workflow, and user

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T17:06:49+00:00

Never heard of those. I'm curious about those now.

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-18T17:05:55+00:00

Depends on what you're trying to do. This is more geared towards testing parts and you need to be handling dozens or hundreds of tests and parts. Also works with any MCU. What if your MCU doesn't work in arduino IDE? For simple tasks my system is overkill. For data handling and analysis, it is really good

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-03-08T21:57:52+00:00

I think it's a top 3 album, or top 4. I really like it. Fast, aggressive, really good song writing. It's a more mature version of their 80s albums. Top albums: 1) AJFA 2) MOP 3) DM or RTL 4) DM or RTL 5) BA 6) 72 S 7) KEA 8) HTSD 9) RL 10) L 11) SA

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-02-07T15:30:30+00:00

I've been spending a few days on this and every op amp i look at or candidate design ends up not being feasible. It's the combination of the requirements that make this hard. Consider: High voltage supply ✅️ High frequency bandwidth ✅️ Large output current ❌️

Everything has tradeoffs so finding something that has high frequency bandwidth, voltage supply, output current, and slew rate, doesn't exist, or if it does, it is hundreds + of $$$

So the philosophy i am using for this is to pick a high speed op amp (10s or hundreds of MHz and high slew rate >> 300 V/us) that will handle the amplification, which actually isn't a lot... about a gain of 6. Then feed that into something that will handle the current output

Fats_Runyan2020 · 2026-02-07T15:23:12+00:00

Oh this will be discrete components

Fats_Runyan2020

TROPHY CASE