Armies of miniature squeegee-wielding, filth-sensing, automated window-washing robots that Tweet

Adventures in Android ADK Development is the beginning (hopefully) of a series of posts on Makezine about getting started with the Android ADK. Follow along, it should be fun.

DIY NFC with Arduino and magnet wire

If you haven’t been paying attention lately you might want to know that the next big thing in mobile is going to be Near Filed Communication (NFC). Google recently accounced their Wallet initiative and Apple is rumored to be working on something similar.

But what about those of use who don’t have any NFC devices? Well if you’ve got an Android then take a look at Joe Desbonnet’s “poor man’s NFC” using an Arduino, some magnet wire, and any compass-equipped Android smartphone.

With a little effort, a simple coil of wire connected to the Arduino is able to send data, to another device!

Now I know I’ve got some enameled copper wire somewhere around here…

ADK + Midi Controller + Xoom + Player Piano = Smooth tunes

Sit back, relax and enjoy.

Vision based pan/tilt tracking mount using Android ADK

Nice example of utilizing the servos to follow a coloured object.

Android ADK with a standard Arduino Uno and USB Host Shield

Don’t want to wait for a Android ADK hardware kit? Mario Bohmer decided to use an Arduino Uno and a USB Host Shield instead with just few steps.

Here the steps he took to make the setup work with the ADK:

  1. Read and understand the ADK section in the Android Developers Guide.
  2. Follow the installation process.
  3. Don’t use Googles USB_HOST_SHIELD library. I used a patched version which I found here. If you are having trouble compiling the demokit.pde it may result from a wrong pin definition in the patched USB_HOST_SHIELD library. Just open the Max3421e.cpp file and change #define INT PB1 to #define INT PORTB1 and #define RST PD7 to #define RST PORTD7. You might also try to use the newly released original version of the USB_HOST_SHIELD library which now supports the ADK, but I don’t know if it works.
  4. Strip down the demokit.pde to its bare essentials, meaning only the communication part.
  5. Strip down the example Android app to the communication part and implement your own use cases.

Be sure to check out his blog for all the details.

He’s even posted a patched version of the Demo app and a stripped down version of demokit.pde on github.

Easy Peripheral Controller

Here’s a great project for anyone new to the Android ADK or robotic hardware in general. The Easy Peripheral Controller is

A library of abstractions for commonly used peripherals (sensors and actuators) and MCU platforms like the ADK, to make it easier to connect from your Android app to the world.

Starting out with the ADK and Demo kit in its stock form, and some example code of how to create your own sketch for an Arduino based ADK board.

Other have been working on a labyrinth style tilt examples too.

A Bright Idea: Android Open Accessories

Justin Mattson, an Android Developer Advocate, and Erik Gilling, an engineer on the Android systems team have a great intro post on how the USB accessory API works and establishing an initial connection between your Android Accessory and your device.

Disco Droids!

I had this idea too but only have one droid so I didn’t want to destroy it.

The Seeduino — a cheaper way to create your Android ADK accessories. Since Google IO, the $400 Google Android Open Accessory kits have been hard to come by—even though the cost can be a barrier for small hobby makers. To help fill demand and offer a much cheaper solution Seeed Studio is now offering a much cheaper ($80) “Seeeduino ADK” board which is fully compatible with Google’s ADK. Be aware however, this is only the base board (Mega2560 compatible) so you don’t get the nice Android Demo Shield and all the IO components that come with the official kit. Check it out here and order yours today. View high resolution

The Seeduino — a cheaper way to create your Android ADK accessories.

Since Google IO, the $400 Google Android Open Accessory kits have been hard to come by—even though the cost can be a barrier for small hobby makers. To help fill demand and offer a much cheaper solution Seeed Studio is now offering a much cheaper ($80) “Seeeduino ADK” board which is fully compatible with Google’s ADK.

Be aware however, this is only the base board (Mega2560 compatible) so you don’t get the nice Android Demo Shield and all the IO components that come with the official kit.

Check it out here and order yours today.

What’s in the Android Accessory Development Kit…