Modular bench instruments
One Base. Swap the cards.
A Vec Labs Base holds two Instrument Cards and a Power Card. The cards decide what it measures, sources and switches. Change them, and it becomes a different instrument.
Calibrated, and yours to recalibrate
Every card that measures carries its own calibration record, and the record travels with the card. Cards will ship calibrated against traceable standards, and you can recalibrate them against your own.
The cards
The Base and the first three cards are at the fab: C4 precision measurement, B8 current profiler and A7 field I/O. Next come E1 AC phase control, the B4 lock-in amplifier, the B5 dynamic signal analyzer, and two consoles.
From the build log
The first four boards went to JLC
The Base, C4, B8 and A7 are at the fab, two of each. Here's what's coming back, and what happens when it does.
Powered by Trellis Firmware
The Base runs Trellis. An instrument is a profile, written as data rather than firmware, and the same runtime runs it on your laptop, so you can test it before it touches hardware.
What's open
Here's what will be published, and what won't.
- Firmware
- Open source. Trellis Firmware will be released under the Apache License 2.0.
- Interfaces
- Documented in full: the Instrument Slot, Flex Port and Console Port interfaces and the card-ID contract, so anyone can build a card.
- Calibration
- Published: the calibration procedure and uncertainty model, including the recalibration you run yourself.
- Signal paths
- Published for each card: a signal-path diagram showing where each source of error comes from.
- Board designs
- Closed: the schematics and parts lists of the Base and the cards.
Contact
Vec Labs hardware is not on sale yet. To hear when it is, or to talk about a card, write to hello@veclabs.com.