As various people are becoming more aware of radiation levels due to education and recent events, building Geiger counters has become much more popular in the last twelve months or so. Various people have produced kits which are functional, however look quite uninteresting. With this in mind, Instructables user number8wire devised and made their own Geiger counter - with a user-friendly interface.
The system uses a genuine Geiger–Müller tube, and is controlled via an Arduino-compatible circuit with 7-segment LED displays for output. However by fitting the counter in a neat enclosure, it gave the creator space to add a touch-sensitive interface based around capacitive touch sensors. This is demonstrated in the following video:
A great example of a project that hasn't been left "on the breadboard", and brought to the stage of a usable and portable device. To learn more, visit the project Instructable page. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.
If you're building your own Arduino-compatible circuit without a USB interface - or using other circuits that need a serial to USB interface, check out our new USBserial module:
It offers much more than the typical FTDI-based adapter. Apart from dual-voltage USB-serial support, it's also a full ATmega16U2 breakout board with all I/O pins arranged for easy access. The board can be flashed easily, and has the pinouts for a USBasp programmer. For more information including our Quickstart guide and of course to order - visit the USB Serial product page. And for more, we're on twitter and Google+, so follow us for news and product updates as well.