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Arducorder, Next Open Source Science Tricorder-like Device, Nears Completion
upontheturtlesback writes: The Arducorder Mini, an Arduino-compatible pocket-sized handheld sensing tool and the next in line of open source science tricorder-like devices designed by Dr. Peter Jansen, is nearing completion. Where the previous models have included about a dozen sensors spanning atmospheric, electromagnetic, and spatial readings, an exciting video of the new prototype shows this model includes sensors for spectroscopy, low-resolution thermal imaging, and radiation sensing. The development is open with the project build logs and most recent source schematics, board layouts, and firmware available on github. This project is an entry in the Hack a Day Prize for a trip to space.
As said this could be an interesting device. But I'm not really sure what this will allow anyone to do. Sure it's all well and good that you can collect data with it, but you'll have to be able to interpret this data into something that's useful. And that's not even touching the fact that this thing would be fragile as hell without a very well design and weather proofed case.
But as with any project like this I comment the designers for thinking up a new and interesting device. And who knows. Maybe the next generation of device might be useful.
I comment the designers for thinking up a new and interesting device
They didn't think up a new and interesting device. They're trying to duplicate something they saw on a sci-fi TV show, thats primary use was exploration of alien planets - not exactly something I'd use on a regular basis. This is a solution in search of a problem - and it doesn't even do what it's supposed to do worth a damn.
Jim, i'm a doctor, not a LIKE.
A tricorder's nice and all, but you wanna see real technological innovation? Here, I got your technological innovation right here:
https://vine.co/v/O7jjJMi5wTa
You are welcome on my lawn.
Is there currently technology that senses the distance and density of matter and requires nothing be behind the object? If this device had the capability to graphically display this information I think that would impress more than anything else. You could scan for a broken bone, find lost objects in the grass (assuming they were more dense than the grass/dirt), or find studs or electrical wiring behind drywall in buildings.
Buy your next Linux PC at eightvirtues.com
Maybe the next generation of device might be useful.
I saw what you did there. :-)
I'd say something about the damn kids, but we had the BasicStamp ...
They're trying to duplicate something they saw on a sci-fi TV show, thats primary use was exploration of alien planets
Some places on Earth are just as alien as anything you saw on Trek. How explored is the ocean floor?
Check out ground penetrating radar. Also, TSA uses backscatter, which works in a similar way - it doesn't REQUIRE anything to be behind the subject, you get a clearer image if you have a plain background (where plain means uniform reflection of the frequency used). Ultrasound works some some applications, but the image is rather blurry unless you have a very expensive unit.
I don't know if either is available in an inexpensive, low resolution hobbyist version. I'd bet there are some old units, two generations behind, on ebay. Now I'm off to Google for hobbyist radar .
A tricorder which combines low-quality short- range radar, backscatter, infrared and ultrasound might be very useful - infrared would see pipes in the wall, maybe the combination of radar and ultrasound would show the studs, etc.
So what other microcontroller to which ordinary people can solder things should people be using instead of an AVR?
What do you think was limiting it? You think someone who wants to design a (say) 15GHz sampling oscilloscope will stop because of the Arduino?
On the other hand, why not use an Arduino? I don't need a 32 bit monster "micro" controller running embedded Linux to flash the headlights on my RC car. I use a bare-bones PIC but someone who is happy with the "get it done" approach of an Arduino, what is wrong with that?
Mostly random stuff.
Moar sensors!!!!!1!!!!!
RF receiver
radar/sonar/chronographs/stud/fish finders
hyperspectral imaging
holographic projector (see "The Chase")
interferometer
How explored is the ocean floor?
Or, for that matter, downtown LA?
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
It doesn't have to be alien like.
The main purpose was to determine if the enviroment was hostile to them. Of course they did other crap but think about where we need to know if the enviroment is hostile.
Think off fire response, motor vehicle accidents, threat assesments for dignitaries, yet another way to find electronic listening devices, and so on.
Of course it might need a little work before it is ready and reliable but there is a use that may be right around tbe corner- litteraly
Let's see.... Some Examples... Freescale Freedom Platform NCP LPC Xpresso TI Stellaris Launch Pad. Each have ARM Cortex M0/M3/M4 variants. All those options are less than an Arduino. They each have accessible IO, lots of tool chain options and aren't crippled by the Arduino front end. (i.e. real debuggers) NXP even has M0 parts in an 8-pin dip. Arduino is like the guitar hero version of a microcontroller. Sure, you may look cool and sound OK tethered to a game machine but in the end you are slapping 4 plastic buttons.
you're right, that's way too much computer for typical simple embeded app. a four bit S1C60 should be more than enough in most cases
Low-cost terahertz radar imaging is going to be very useful in handheld devices. You really can see a short distance into many materials. Great for seeing pipes and electrical wiring in walls. The day will come when that's a standard tool one buys at Home Depot.
Until that's working, a cooled IR imager would be useful. Those are great for finding heat leaks in houses, but currently cost too much.
Sure, you may look cool and sound OK tethered to a game machine but in the end you are slapping 4 plastic buttons.
With Guitar Hero, you are stuck just imitating someone else, while at the end of the day the Arduino still contains a programmable microcontroller that can solve new, original problems. I had not used one until about 6 months ago, when a friend was trying to start up a project that would eventually be maintained and expanded by students. He came to me to get a skeleton hardware setup going for demo purposes, as I had plenty of other mcu experience. I had a basic program up and running in less than a minute, and had the whole thing done in a couple hours including documentation. i've spent more time dealing with customer support, including with one of the products you named, just to get a basic program compiled and programmed into the device due to bugs in their software.
Would I use one in a production environment? No, there are a lot cheaper and more powerful chips that a professional engineer can incorporate into a compact design. But when it comes to suggesting a project for someone learning, or building something that others will pick up and modify to learn, there are a wide variety of situations it will work just fine. I gave one to a friend's son for his birthday, and he had fun getting things going even with minimal programming experience. Now he is learning how to read datasheets for information as his projects get more and more detailed... something that other setups would require be done in reverse order: learn to read datasheets before getting something working, not a path that is easy with kids (or a lot of adults too).
I guess this explains your presence.
Nobody cares.
das raycis
That's an excellent idea, until you want something that the big businesses won't make because the demand isn't high enough and/or there's not enough profit to be made.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
I can already think of four or five uses for this. Things I'd want to use it for, and that I can see from the video I'd be able to make use of without any extensive training.
Suggesting this doesn't have real utility only demonstrates a severe lack of imagination.
As said this could be an interesting device. But I'm not really sure what this will allow anyone to do.
The point isn't what you can do with it, the point is that it's fun to build it and to experiment with all of the sensors. Perhaps that experimentation will spark some ideas for building things that actually are useful, but even that's a second-order concern.
I'm curious. What would you like to use it for?
YEAH! Give up any form of creativity or control! Let's keep anything innovative or interesting out of the hands of normal, every day people! What the heck do they know? Let Sony and Microsoft and Apple make things, because they're infinitely more creative and innovative than this guy, who made a neat looking toy that looks fun to use and enjoyable to put together! Screw all that! Be happy with the nondescript thing in the box on the shelf, that everyone else has, too, so you don't have to think on your own!
Down with science, down with brai--
Wait, why are you even on Slashdot?
Why not cut out the display, speaker, and wifi, and interface with a cellphone via the headphone jack? Would seem to be a simpler and less costly option. Plus, you get all the advantages of a smartphone. Obviously, not needing a cellphone has its advantages too though.
As said this could be an interesting device. But I'm not really sure what this will allow anyone to do.
The point isn't what you can do with it, the point is that it's fun to build it and to experiment with all of the sensors. Perhaps that experimentation will spark some ideas for building things that actually are useful, but even that's a second-order concern.
This.
What happened to the slashdot of old?
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
What happened to the slashdot of old?
Kids these days, that's what...
Now; welcome to my lawn...
No, the tricorder's primary use was exposition, not exploration.
TV Show Watcher: What the heck is going on there?
Star Trek Character: (consults tricorder) There appears to be a radiation surge from other there, indicating a portal will soon appear and introduce this week's source of conflict.
TV Show Watcher: Thanks, informative tricorder!
i've spent more time dealing with customer support, including with one of the products you named, just to get a basic program compiled and programmed into the device due to bugs in their software.
Just to clarify what the other poster probably intended: one can spend a long time debugging other mcu systems, especially newer ones that have not been out for long. I've had a few come in that took quite a bit of work to prove what exactly went wrong and that it was a compiler or debugging software error. That takes a lot of back and forth with customer support, and a pretty good understanding of what the device should be doing to track down why it isn't working. Simpler systems that just work are good for learning so you can build up that understanding and intuition about such things before dealing with bigger potential messes. And for a lot of people, there is no need for a more powerful or different setup after that. Even though there are other systems that can accomplish this, the Arduino fills that role just fine.
He is using a 32bit monster, its a pic32 device, a chipkit32 clone. Its running an emulation of the io of the 8bit aurduino through wiring. Its not a common of garden aurduino 8bit avr.
It would be really cool to see a Theremin-based monitor for this, like this site:
https://www.googlesciencefair.com/projects/en/2014/04d4d5dd602bdab802a76b48c24b3e1e29679611a5bfa55c34ed4f40df8294cf
They talk about being able to monitor more than just breathing with it.
This is pretty close: http://www.thermoscientific.co...
Mission: To provide products that consume time and energy as entertainingly as permitted by the laws of thermodynamics.
--The multimeter could be an interesting device. But I'm not really sure what this will allow anyone to do. Sure it's all well and good that you can collect data with it, but you'll have to be able to interpret this data into something that's useful. --
The devices already all have uses, but scientific instruments are typically expensive. Something like this could potentially replace a whole lot of instruments, just as the multimeter did, and it could also be cheap enough to be useful for school or home science kit usage.
Basically, it already has a ton of usages right out of the box plus, if it achieves wide distribution, people will think up all kinds of new uses for it.
For $10, you can buy a radar-equipped stud-finder and use it to locate the frame behind your sheetrock.
Laser rangefinders can also locate distance to laser-reflective sources and there are many other similar technologies, such as those used in autofocus cameras.
I don't know of any portable technology that could be used to find a broken bone without exposing people to ionizing radiation, but I'm sure we'll figure it out one day.
This would be the holy grail for any kind of modern "ghost hunter", it does electromagnetic, thermal, radiation, infrared.. etc..
Doesn't matter if they don't have a fucking clue how it actually works, it'll be a status symbol for the disenfranchised-with-reality crowd who love to play scientist.
I used to be one of those people interested in ghost hunting, until I got more involved with it, and saw the sheer amount of wishful thinking, ignorance, and general lack of logic applied.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
I'm a PIC man myself.
"Paku-paku-paku"