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Arduino makes a series of low cost, barebones, open-source hardware and software designed for students, artists, hackers, or pretty much anyone with a little technical know-how to build their own electronic devices. Now the company is adding a few new products to its lineup.

One of the most interesting additions is a new Arduino ADK board which is designed for Android developers. Google recently added support for USB peripherals to the Android operating system and unveiled an official development kit based on an Arduino system board. Now Arduino is offering its own ADK model.

The ADK board is based on a basic Arduino system, but it has a USB host chip added on for good measure and a more generous power supply so that the board can charge a phone.

A basic Arduino device uses a serial and/or USB connection for input, but the USB host chip allows the board to work with a more diverse set of USB peripherals such as a mouse, keyboard, game controller, or other device.

There’s also an optional ADK Sensor Kit that lets you add sensors and actuators easily.

Arduino is also now offering a board with a built-in Ethernet jack so that you can get online without purchasing an accessory. Did I mention that the basic Arduino systems up until now have been pretty barebones? Still, people have used Arduino-based systems to build all sorts of cool things including robots and wireless sketch pads.

via Engadget