Prototyping The Future: Building A “Star Trek” Tricorder
Michael Parks, P.E. for Mouser Electronics
Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Summary
Figure 1: The concept image for the “Tricorder” made from a TI Launchpad featuring the new MSP432 and several environmental sensors.
The majority of the world is aware of names like Picasso, Van Gogh, and Renoir - but for me, the science fiction concept art of Ralph McQuarrie (Star Wars) and Matt Jeffries (Star Trek) is every bit as gorgeous and perhaps more important. As an engineer, their concepts for yesterday's entertainment franchises serve as today's blueprint for real-world innovation.
One such 21st century innovation is the brand new Texas Instruments MSP432 LaunchPad. Extremely powerful and extremely energy efficient, these new microcontrollers are perfect for turning science fiction into science fact. Coupled with an array of powerful, low-cost sensors we set out to build the prototype “Star Trek" Tricorder today knowing what its fictional descendant will look like in the 23rd century. Essentially, our "Tricorder" is an environmental sensing device that measures the presence of oxygen, magnetic field, ambient light, humidity and temperature.
We would love to hear what you think about this project; please tell us in the comments section below.
