Arducorder, Next Open Source Science Tricorder-like Device, Nears Completion

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday September 30, 2014 @11:58AM from the scanning-for-life-forms dept.

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.

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Re:Interesting. But might end up as more of a toy. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-09-30 14:56 · Score: 3, Informative

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.