I got my iPhone 4 over three years ago. Yes, I know, by today's standards it's ancient, but I come from a generation which was taught to use things up and wear them out - it's still working nicely. I realized shortly after getting it I had a computer in my pocket, and since then I have been looking for sensors, adaptors and apps which could turn my phone into a portable scientific instrument.
With built-in location services and a clock, the time and place of the measurement can be absolutely pinpointed, and transmitted by email or SMS to remote locations. A photo of the measurement location can also be taken and transmitted. Just the thing for the roving chemist.
The trouble is, until fairly recently, there's been nothing available on offer. There are lots of handy apps for the analytical chemist, and I've got them on my phone. Periodic tables, molecular mass calculators, and regression analysis calculators for preparing calibration curves. They're good and they're handy, and they've come to my rescue when I've been at a customer's and couldn't boot up my notebook to the internet, but somehow, I felt a lack....of, well, something better...until I found the Sensorex PH-1 pH meter for Apple mobile products a couple of years ago. It was cool, and I had to have one. It plugs into the connector of my iPhone, and a pH probe with a BNC connector plugs into it. The software is free from iTunes, and it all works very nicely. There's multi-point calibration, and you can save the calibration. You can email the readings, and you can name the location of your reading either however you like or with its GPS location.
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With built-in location services and a clock, the time and place of the measurement can be absolutely pinpointed, and transmitted by email or SMS to remote locations. A photo of the measurement location can also be taken and transmitted. Just the thing for the roving chemist.
The trouble is, until fairly recently, there's been nothing available on offer. There are lots of handy apps for the analytical chemist, and I've got them on my phone. Periodic tables, molecular mass calculators, and regression analysis calculators for preparing calibration curves. They're good and they're handy, and they've come to my rescue when I've been at a customer's and couldn't boot up my notebook to the internet, but somehow, I felt a lack....of, well, something better...until I found the Sensorex PH-1 pH meter for Apple mobile products a couple of years ago. It was cool, and I had to have one. It plugs into the connector of my iPhone, and a pH probe with a BNC connector plugs into it. The software is free from iTunes, and it all works very nicely. There's multi-point calibration, and you can save the calibration. You can email the readings, and you can name the location of your reading either however you like or with its GPS location.
So it all works very nicely. There's a couple of problems chief of which is the fact that the iPhone 5 and later models use a different connector. That is easily solved with an adaptor, but you'll need a Lightning > 18-pin adaptor. However, I'm still very happy with this little device.
It seems that Sensorex have now resolved this problem with their new SAM-1 Smart Aqua Meter, which now connects to smartphones (Apple and Android devices) through the headphone socket. The new meter also performs conductivity and ORP measurements as well. Reportedly, shipments start mid-March 2014 on this product. Another thing that I like is that you can buy online, and that PayPal is accepted as payment.
I note that Sensorex are promoting their "smart" probes, which are auto-recognized by the SAM-1. Great, but they're probably not the first in this area. Way back in 2000, our Multitrator thermometric titration system went to market with our Intelligent Probe thermometric sensors. The probes contained a chip which stored the probe's manufacturing data as well as the calibration data which converted mV to temperature. There was also the capability for storing your own calibration data if you wanted to do some really accurate enthalpimetric measurements.
There is a remaining niggle with the SAM-1. You still have to connect a probe directly to the meter. Wouldn't it be nice if you could be free of those tangly, interference-prone analog wire connections, and make your pH, conductivity, ORP (and maybe even ISE) measurements wirelessly and digitally?
It seems that there are moves in this direction. A company called Sensorcon has brought out a multi-sensor device called Sensordrone, which connects via Bluetooth to Android devices.
Out of the box, it does all sorts of things ....
It seems that Sensorex have now resolved this problem with their new SAM-1 Smart Aqua Meter, which now connects to smartphones (Apple and Android devices) through the headphone socket. The new meter also performs conductivity and ORP measurements as well. Reportedly, shipments start mid-March 2014 on this product. Another thing that I like is that you can buy online, and that PayPal is accepted as payment.
There is a remaining niggle with the SAM-1. You still have to connect a probe directly to the meter. Wouldn't it be nice if you could be free of those tangly, interference-prone analog wire connections, and make your pH, conductivity, ORP (and maybe even ISE) measurements wirelessly and digitally?
It seems that there are moves in this direction. A company called Sensorcon has brought out a multi-sensor device called Sensordrone, which connects via Bluetooth to Android devices.
Out of the box, it does all sorts of things ....
... and you can buy add-ons, such as a pH measurement module ....
as well as a dissolved oxygen sensor extension. The makers are promoting as a platform for third-party hardware devices.
I can see interesting days ahead in the smartphone/portable lab. area. It's always fun to see what the future brings.
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