You may think of Android as an OS for phones and tablets, but Google’s ambitions run deeper. They’re pitching it as a platform that could run on all kinds of devices. To get developers on board with that plan, the company announced an update to the Android Accessory Development Kit (ADK) 2012 at Google I/O.
The ADK 2012 is based on the Arduino open source electronics prototyping platform and is an open hardware design. The hardware design files and firmware source code are included with the ADK software download. The ADK contains two main physical hardware components:
Main processing board containing the microprocessor, USB connections, power connector and input/output pins. This board can be removed and used separately from the rest of the hardware.
Shield containing sensors, LEDs, input controls, audio amplifier and speaker output, contained in a custom, polygon box enclosure.
The main hardware features of the ADK are as follows:
An ARM 32-bit Cortex M3 micro-processor
Separate USB connections for an Android device and computer connection for programming and debugging
Sensors for light, color, proximity, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and acceleration
Micro SD Card slot
Bluetooth support
The ADK comes preloaded with an alarm clock firmware program that you can use immediately. A companion Android application, ADK 2012, is available on Google Play. The source code for both the Android application and the ADK firmware (an Arduino sketch) can be downloaded from this page.
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I was about to purchase an IOIO – which looks like it does a great deal of the same stuff.
I would really appreciate a hackers look at the two things at some point. For my modest projects an IOIO will do the business – and is actually for sale…
@Gaijintendo – IOIO supports “older” versions of Android, which it turns out, are still the largest install base on end user devices. The ADK only works on “newer” versions of Android.
The big change in this board is it is based on the yet to be released Arduino Due, which is 32 bit.
I’m with you on availability. “old” tech like the IOIO is proven in the field and has a lot more online resources to get you started.
So they say "The specifications and design files for the hardware were also released for use by manufacturers and hobbyists." Has anybody found them? I didn’t see anything that looked like a schematic or PCB in either the Mac or PC downloads (which is where "the design files" are supposed to be.)
This is especially interesting, because this is the first (claimed) publication of Arduino Due (compatible) pinouts/etc. (which might also explain the non-existence.)
I was actually able to get the (EAGLE 5 based) schematics and board file (and other stuff) by following the instructions here: http://developer.android.com/tools/adk/adk2.html#dev
It may be that the zip download would eventually have led to getting the files as well, but it’s not a “simple download.” (you start with the download, and then use the android package manager to download additional components. Or something like that.)
I was about to purchase an IOIO – which looks like it does a great deal of the same stuff.
I would really appreciate a hackers look at the two things at some point. For my modest projects an IOIO will do the business – and is actually for sale…
@Gaijintendo – IOIO supports “older” versions of Android, which it turns out, are still the largest install base on end user devices. The ADK only works on “newer” versions of Android.
The big change in this board is it is based on the yet to be released Arduino Due, which is 32 bit.
I’m with you on availability. “old” tech like the IOIO is proven in the field and has a lot more online resources to get you started.
Wow. That is the most beautiful evaluation kit I’ve ever seen. Are they available for purchase?
The guy who designed it is really into clocks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySVRAz592UY
So they say "The specifications and design files for the hardware were also released for use by manufacturers and hobbyists." Has anybody found them? I didn’t see anything that looked like a schematic or PCB in either the Mac or PC downloads (which is where "the design files" are supposed to be.)
This is especially interesting, because this is the first (claimed) publication of Arduino Due (compatible) pinouts/etc. (which might also explain the non-existence.)
@WestfW and others:
The PCB schematic and design files (I noticed that they included EagleCad files) are found on the main ADK page here:
http://developer.android.com/tools/adk/adk2.html#src-download
Assuming that is what you did and didn’t find the files, you could try this:
https://android.googlesource.com/device/google/accessory/adk2012_demo
As you can see, the hardware files are indeed inside that same directory:
https://android.googlesource.com/device/google/accessory/adk2012_demo/+/master/hardware/
I was actually able to get the (EAGLE 5 based) schematics and board file (and other stuff) by following the instructions here: http://developer.android.com/tools/adk/adk2.html#dev
It may be that the zip download would eventually have led to getting the files as well, but it’s not a “simple download.” (you start with the download, and then use the android package manager to download additional components. Or something like that.)
Ya, definitely interested in purchasing one too!