Simon has three ERGOduinos being tested online. An ERGOduino consists of an “Arduino Ethernet” board, a custom-built ERGO shield containing the GPS and detector-interface circuit, and a G-M detector. It’s a little, bitty thing, and looks like it will cost a fraction of the old ERGO beta pixels.
Right now, the ERGOduino replicates the function of the beta ERGO pixels except for datalogging. We’re going to move to an EtherMega board, a new version of Arduino, that will allow us some more code space to add us to cache and log data. You may notice the ERGOduinos (1111, 1112, 1113) coming and going from the map during the test period, but keep an eye out for them.
Meanwhile, Jim Brown is working on a next-generation ERGO pixel using an EtherMega that will work securely with our new database. Jim has solved a lot of problems and developed a lot of knowledge that’s helped us with the ERGOduino. This summer, we hope to have some students working on a Raspberry Pi ERGO pixel, and Simon is hoping to develop a totally custom board using an MSP430 or Stellaris processor and including an interactive LCD touchscreen. Lots of exciting developments!
