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.
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
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.
They're trying to duplicate something they saw on a sci-fi TV show, thats primary use was exploration of alien planets
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!
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.
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.
--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 s
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.
X-rays though I don't think are a viable general-purpose option. Firstly it would be ridiculously dangerous to allow people to walk around with sufficiently powerful ionising radiation sources - ask Madame Curie about the dangers of X-rays. More to the point though X-rays don't bounce of all that much except for very glancing blows (which wouldn't send the reflected ray back to you) - they mostly either pass through things or get absorbed, which means your receiver has to be on the opposite side of the th
Your whole first paragraph is pretty much a chain of incorrect and false statements in the face of x-ray backscattering equipment. This uses x-ray sources considerably weaker than used for medical x-rays, involves x-rays that actually do scatter backwards from the target, via. Compton scattering, and works quite well with stuff that are not "extreme dense materials."
They also don't have very good penetrating power and still rely on exposing people to dangerous ionizing radiation. It's not as if you can image someone's bones using the naturally-occurring X-rays in the environment, unless that person happens to be standing naked on the moon.
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.
We're getting some good answers here. Since it has a screen like a phone, the "mode" button could change which program controlled how the input graphs were rendered, like OpenGL display lists in a game. The x-ray/backscatter method could have a red button and audibly beep when it's on to warn people. Maybe a mass spectrometer to sniff the air in front of it (and compare the results to a database of known sample patterns) would make it truly boss. If someone farted, the tricorder would have the answer.
Low-cost terahertz radar imaging [wikipedia.org] 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.
Yes but will it also be able to analyze composition? I don't want a temperature probe; I already have that. I want to scan my soil and discover the nitrogen content, phosphor content, etc.
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.
Imagine what kind of leaps and bounds "hobby" electronics would take if it dropped compatibility for the damn Arduino? Come to the modern age and stop thinking in terms of an 8-bit DIP package dozen MHz microcontroller...
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 sl
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 minu
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
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?
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.
Seriously, this whole DIY philosophy is a giant crock of shit. There is a reason why big business makes things, because they're good at it, and we're not.
Let's leave this to the professionals and do what we do best, which is buy their stuff and be content with that.
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.
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!
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.
Heh. I imagine this device would use a lot less power than a cellphone and cost a lot less, which could be very valuable in certain areas of the world.
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.
Introducing, the 1010, a one-bit processor.
0 NOP No Operation
1 JMP Jump (address specified by next 2 bits)
Holy dog shit, Slashdot! (Score:-1)
Star Trek is for steers and queers and I don't see any steers around here.
Re: (Score:1)
I guess this explains your presence.
Interesting. But might end up as more of a toy. (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re: (Score:1)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
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?
Re: (Score:3)
How explored is the ocean floor?
Or, for that matter, downtown LA?
Re: (Score:0)
das raycis
Re: (Score:2)
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
Re: (Score:1)
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.
Re: Interesting. But might end up as more of a toy (Score:0)
I'm curious. What would you like to use it for?
Re: (Score:2)
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!
Re: (Score:0)
Maybe the next generation of device might be useful.
I saw what you did there. :-)
Re: (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.
Re: (Score:2)
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?
Re: (Score:1)
What happened to the slashdot of old?
Kids these days, that's what...
Now; welcome to my lawn...
We don't need no stinkin' multimeter! (Score:2)
--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 s
tricoder-LIKE (Score:2)
Pff... (Score:2)
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 [vine.co]
Re: (Score:2)
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 [vine.co]
He's dead, Jim.
Re: (Score:2)
The killer feature (Score:3)
Re: (Score:0)
Is there currently technology that senses the distance and density of matter and requires nothing be behind the object?
No.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
X-rays though I don't think are a viable general-purpose option. Firstly it would be ridiculously dangerous to allow people to walk around with sufficiently powerful ionising radiation sources - ask Madame Curie about the dangers of X-rays. More to the point though X-rays don't bounce of all that much except for very glancing blows (which wouldn't send the reflected ray back to you) - they mostly either pass through things or get absorbed, which means your receiver has to be on the opposite side of the th
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
They also don't have very good penetrating power and still rely on exposing people to dangerous ionizing radiation. It's not as if you can image someone's bones using the naturally-occurring X-rays in the environment, unless that person happens to be standing naked on the moon.
Re: (Score:0)
The Forward Mass Sensor would disagree with you.
http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/pdf/10... [aiaa.org]
Only been around for 49 years though.
http://www.regnirps.com/Gravio... [regnirps.com]
radar, backscatter , sometimes ultrasound (Score:4)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
Terahertz radar (Score:4, Interesting)
Low-cost terahertz radar imaging [wikipedia.org] 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.
Re: (Score:2)
Soon to be nicknamed the 'Nudie-cam.'
Re: (Score:0)
it takes alot of tuning to see someone's genitals with Thz cameras. your more likely to be seeing their musculature and fat deposits.
in the very least, you could definitely tell who has real boobs or very well made implants.
Re: (Score:2)
Soon to be nicknamed the 'Nudie-cam.'
Obligatory (SFW) pic [modernsurvivalblog.com] worth 1K words. [Google image search result for "Terahertz imaging"].
Note to self: THz-camo underwear market will be big. Get in early.
Re: (Score:2)
YES; Radar (Score:2)
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.
Arduyawn (Score:-1)
Imagine what kind of leaps and bounds "hobby" electronics would take if it dropped compatibility for the damn Arduino? Come to the modern age and stop thinking in terms of an 8-bit DIP package dozen MHz microcontroller...
damn kids (Score:0)
I'd say something about the damn kids, but we had the BasicStamp ...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:0)
Re: (Score:1)
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 minu
Re: (Score:0)
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
Re: (Score:0)
Nobody cares.
Re: (Score:0)
I'm a PIC man myself.
"Paku-paku-paku"
Re:Arduyawn (Score:4, Insightful)
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?
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
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
Non-constructive critisim (Score:0)
Moar sensors!!!!!1!!!!!
RF receiver
radar/sonar/chronographs/stud/fish finders
hyperspectral imaging
holographic projector (see "The Chase")
interferometer
Making is for losers. (Score:-1)
Seriously, this whole DIY philosophy is a giant crock of shit. There is a reason why big business makes things, because they're good at it, and we're not.
Let's leave this to the professionals and do what we do best, which is buy their stuff and be content with that.
Re: (Score:2)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
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!
Smartphone Interface (Score:0)
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.
Re: (Score:0)
Re: (Score:0)
Heh. I imagine this device would use a lot less power than a cellphone and cost a lot less, which could be very valuable in certain areas of the world.
Theremin module would be cool (Score:1)
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.
Thermo Scientific X-Ray Fluorescence.. (Score:2)
Ghost Hunters (Score:2)
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.