LIliamswayne·Jul 16, 2024Submission
EspoTek Labrador: an Open-source board
16 points · Open discussionespotek-org
Labrador
C++2019–2024
espotek-org / Labrador
Labrador
EspoTek Labrador is a USB device that transforms your PC or smartphone into a fully-featured electronics lab. This repo holds all of the source code!
6Distinct people
7Mentions
1Explicit recommenders
1.2KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
EspoTek Labrador is a USB device that transforms your PC or smartphone into a fully-featured electronics lab. This repo holds all of the source code!
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use has been verified yet.
What people are saying
Holy shit I LOVE the Labrador, it's the most useful thing I have. Guys, if you're into electronics at all, buy one right now (https://github.com/EspoTek/Labrador/), it's…
stavros used a recommendation phrase. One indexed comment matches. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
No other repository is repeatedly linked in the same discussions.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 3:56:07 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year7 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2019-06-07 17:19:15 UTC to 2024-07-16 22:16:27 UTC.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 1 | 0 |
What Hacker News says
7 sourcesOpen Source Electronics Lab for $30 (2019)
2 points · Open discussionThe software is on GH: https://github.com/EspoTek/Labrador
(edit) Not affiliated
In EspoTek Labrador – AIO USB Scope, Signal Generator, PSU, Analyzer and MultimeterHoly shit I LOVE the Labrador, it's the most useful thing I have. Guys, if you're into electronics at all, buy one right now (https://github.com/EspoTek/Labrador/), it's amazing and only $30.
Also I'd say I'm sorry about the comment but that would imply I've changed but I'm still a sarcastic asshole. I'm working on it though.
In IMGZ – Paid image sharing>is there a way to get the power supply to output from say 0-5v and 10-999 mA
Unfortunately not. There's a 3.3V output pin (on the left hand side here: https://github.com/EspoTek/Labrador/wiki/Pinout) but that's it.
It's physically impossible to get lower voltages than that out, as the power supply subsystem consists of a boost converter attached to the USB +5V rail.
That said, you can get pretty decent benchtop power supplies from AliExpress or eBay for under $50 - they're much more capable than Labrador's circuit (which is sadly limited by USB's paltry 2.5W output power plus a relatively inefficient boost converter).
In Arduino Pro hardware is not open-source hardwareDepending on your target market, open-sourcing your hardware makes a lot of sense.
I open-sourced my commercial USB oscilloscope design (https://github.com/EspoTek/Labrador) after doing a bit of research into boards targeted at electronics hobbyists and crowdfunded by individuals or small teams.
Invariably, a community didn't form around the closed-source boards and they died.
A lot of people asked me what I'm doing to protect my IP from being "stolen".
The most effective solution I've found so far is efficient logistics. I take advantage of 3PL companies in Shenzhen, as well as Amazon FBA in the US (and Europe soon) to make sure that it's easy for customers anywhere in the world to buy the product.
So far, I've sold close to 10k units and the the only clones I've seen were made by a student in Iran for personal use.
In A dedicated licence for open-source hardware: CERN OHL approved by OSIOpen Source Electronics Lab for $30
417 points · Open discussion