Development Board Gives USB Access To Android Devices

Electric Sheep, SparkFun Electronics’ development board, gives users USB access to their android-based phone to develop unique accessories and applications. It takes advantage of Android’s open accessory protocol and, communicating via USB, provides complete dynamic access to the phone’s systems. This enables the creation of custom applications and accessories such as controls for an autonomous vehicle or coupling the phone with a microcontroller such as an Arduino. Not restricted to phones, the board is viable on any platform with the Android operating system and a USB port. Electric Sheep employs the ATMega2560 microcontroller and bootloader and is available from the SparkFun website. Price is $79.95 each. SparkFun Electronics, Boulder, CO. (303) 284-0979.