Apr 152012
 

… for you to build yourself.

The news article:

Scientist beams up a real “Star Trek” tricorder

The website:

Science Tricorder Mark 2

The photos show what is, essentially, a “Next Generation” tricorder as made by a fan. Which means it looks kinda… crappy. But it’s a crappy-looking tricorder that freakin’ works.

And from the article, the inventor says: “Star Trek inspired me to be a scientist.”

I’ve seen a  lot of people dis Trek, saying that claims that it inspired kids to become scientists and engineers is just an urban legend… and yet I also keep seeing scientists and engineers say that Star Trek inspired them.

The Tricorder Mk 2 measures:

Atmospheric Temperature and Humidity

3-axis Magnetic Field Sensor

Atmospheric Temperature and Humidity

Colour RGBC Sensor

Absolute Pressure Sensor

Non-contact IR Thermometer

Light-to-digital converter

GPS Receiver

Ultrasonic distance sensor

Sparkfun Inertial Measurement Unit

———

I imagine that future versions would include things like cameras (still & video, yanked from a cel phone), a chemical sensor or three, radiation detector, a biomedical microscope (also yanked from a cel phone), communications systems, and eventually some form of sonogram/X-Ray/MRI thingie.

 Posted by at 12:11 am