CHAPTER 2
Android Geiger Counter
T
HE
E
VIL
G
ENIUS’S MINIONS
are always leaving radioactive material lying around after his failed
attempts at world domination. Tired of continual accidental
exposure to radiation,
the Evil Genius
decided to make a Geiger counter accessory for his Android phone (
Figure 2-1
).
Figure 2-1 The Android
Geiger counter
Google, developers of the extremely successful Android mobile operating system, chose Arduino as
the basis for their open accessory development kit (sometimes called ADK).
This is a protocol
specification and library software developed by Google to encourage third parties (that’s us) to develop
hardware accessories to which an Android
device can be docked, via its USB connection.
While Google probably expected accessories to be boom boxes and other fairly dull living room–
type accessories, the Evil Genius seized the opportunity to develop some more exciting open accessories
for his cell phone, such as this Geiger counter.
The Geiger counter uses a cheap Geiger-Müller (GM) tube sourced on eBay for about USD 20. The
tube is not sensitive to alpha radiation. Such tubes are more expensive and difficult to obtain, but should
still work fine with this design.
The whole project should cost less than USD 100, including the Arduino and USB host shield.
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