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Canadian Man Releases Open Source Star Trek Tricorder

Posted by Soulskill on from the very-far-ahead-of-stone-knives-and-bearskins dept.

New submitter upontheturtlesback writes "Another example of Star Trek technology becoming a reality. In light of the recent Tricorder X-Prize announcement, Dr. Peter Jansen has openly released the designs for a series of Science Tricorders that he developed while a graduate student at McMaster University. The Science Tricorders are capable of sensing a variety of atmospheric, electromagnetic, and spatial phenomena. Where the Science Tricorder Mark 1 is a relatively easy-to-build proof of concept, the Science Tricorder Mark 2 runs Linux and resembles a cross between a Nintendo DS and scientific instrument with dual OLED touch displays. An exciting video shows them in action, and describes the project goal of creating general scientific tools for learning about and visualizing the world, as well as their importance for science education by helping kids understand abstract concepts like magnetism or polarization visually. The hardware schematics, board layouts, and firmware source are freely available on the Tricorder project website under various open licenses."

6 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. sweet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's finally here but I can't wait until the fourcorder!

  2. Impressive but some bugs... by Troyusrex · · Score: 5, Funny

    For instance, I couldn't get the neutrino beam working and while scanning for life forms it identified my cat as silicone based! Neat, but needs some work.

    1. Re:Impressive but some bugs... by wierd_w · · Score: 5, Funny

      The neutrino beam is being worked on.

      The issue with the cat being misidentified as being silicone based was not entirely in error. After reviewing the scan and command logs, your command "identify my cat" ran into a limitation of the internal verbal dictionary.

      Basically, as far as we can determine, the tricorder looked up "cat" for synonyms, and determined that "pus" and "pussy" were suitable alternates.

      It then locked onto the silicone vaginal simulator you keep in your closet, and properly identified its molecular composition.

      We have forwarded the bug report to our naturnal language coding team, and hope to have a bugfix soon.

      Thank you for using Tricorder!

  3. OK... by msauve · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We'll see.

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  4. Memory Alpha by FrootLoops · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Memory Alpha (the Star Trek wiki) says

    The first "real-world" tricorder was developed by a Canadian company called the Vital Technologies Corporation in 1996. The scanner was called the TR-107 Mark 1; Vital Technologies sold 10,000 of them before going out of business in 1997. The TR-107 could scan EM radiation, temperature, and barometric pressure.

    The TR-107 is properly referred to as a true "tricorder" due to a clause in Gene Roddenberry's contracts with Desilu/Paramount dating back to the time of the Original Series. The clause specified that if any company could find a way to make one of the fictional devices actually work, then they would have the right to use the name.

    [I want to note the inner quote isn't sourced. Being fueled by the infinite energy and eye for minutiae of Star Trek fans, Memory Alpha is usually very reliable.]

  5. Great work, thanks by wreakyhavoc · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is the DIY, open source version. Kinda clunky, but open and accessible. He's obviously a proponent of accessible education, a welcome sentiment.

    The Apple/Nokia/Samsung version will be flip-phone configuration, no user serviceable or accessible parts, locked down and impossible to open up without destroying. It will feature multiple wireless protocols, wireless probes and accessories. It will not be upgradeable, and will be created as a designed obsolescence, throw away device. While you use it to explore the world around you, it will be gathering all your data to explore and categorize you.

    It will also be backed by a war chest of patents used to deny the populace or small businesses from creating their own cheap, open, accessible versions.

    Scoff all you like, but enjoy this handiwork while you still can. Or at least applaud.