At Google’s developer conference (Google IO 2011), the Open Accessory standard was announced. This
is the standard for creating hardware accessories for Android devices that plug into the Android device
through its USB connection. This is available for cell phones and tablets with Android 2.3.4 or later.
The really cool thing about this standard is that it is based around Arduino technology. Great news
for Arduino enthusiasts and five of the projects in this book (Geiger Counter,
Light Show,
TV Remote,
Temperature Logger, and Ultrasonic Range Finder) are Open Accessory projects.
The book introduces the concept of a Droid Duino Base, which takes an Arduino’s microcontroller
off the Arduino board and fits it into a socket on the prototyping area of a USB host shield. This removes
the need for
an Arduino for each project, reducing the size and keeping the
cost down to a few tens of
dollars per project. This forms the basis of four of the projects in the book and makes a handy module to
reuse in your own Open Accessory projects.
Amarino
In some situations, a wired connection is not what is needed. For example, in the first project in this book
(Bluetooth Robot), wires would really cramp the robot’s style. We can, however,
use a clever bit of
technology called Amarino that will allow us to remote control a small robot from an app on an Android
phone.
