uConsole Science Tricorder

uConsole
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I thought I would share a device that I’ve been working on for a few years, called the Open Source Science Tricorder Cyberdeck. It’s essentially a uConsole that’s been modified to include a large number of sensors. The github repository also has some earlier versions described in the README, including an earlier attempt at using a Picocalc.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MCvRtOt6pII

Youtube (assembly video): https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LsJ3JqqFUqU

Github: GitHub - tricorderproject/cyberdeck · GitHub

Pictures:

tricorder1
tricorder1960×1280 261 KB

tricorder2
tricorder2960×1280 364 KB

Sensors:

This currently has the following sensing capabilities:

  • Thermal Imaging: a 80x62 Waveshare imager, paired with a regular visible USB camera
  • Visible Spectroscopy: a Hamamatsu C12666MA microspectrometer, with 256 spectral channels between 340nm and 780nm (in practice, the spectral resolution is about 15nm)
  • Magnetic Field Imager: An 8x8 (64 pixel) magnetic field camera, provided by the Sparkfun Magnetic Imaging Tile. In practice this can go up to about 20KHz (i.e. 20,000 frames per second). This is also paired with a regular magnetometer (MLX90393) for magnetic field strength and direction.
  • Radiation Spectroscopy: Where previous open source science tricorders have included radiation sensors, this version includes the Pomelo radiation spectroscopy detector, which uses a scintillation crystal and can differentiate energy levels.
  • Environmental Sensors: CO2 level, VOC level, Air particulate matter (e.g. PM1/2.5/4/10), ambient temperature, pressure, and humidity.
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Thanks! The cooling is definitely a challenge – I had originally had a large standard cooler on there (here are two pictures: GitHub - tricorderproject/cyberdeck · GitHub ), but it was way too large. I ended up removing it, and the CM4 will operate for a while under light load without a cooler… but if you push it for a while it definitely is not happy. I was thinking of putting just a chunk of copper that goes out the side of the case, with a small fan on it – but I’m a bit worried since the softening temperature of PLA can I think be as low as 50-65C, which might not be great for the case… :slight_smile: