Ultrasensitive Digital Electroscope

I built an ultrasensitive electroscope using an Arduino and a 16×2 LCD to detect super tiny electric charges. At first, the readings were completely cooked because the signal was insanely weak and noise was everywhere. The numbers kept jumping even when nothing was near the sensor.

To fix that, I made the Arduino take a ton of readings instead of just one and average them out, which smoothed the noise and made the real signal actually show up. I also added auto-calibration on startup so the system figures out what “no charge” looks like and uses that as a baseline.

Now, when you bring something charged close, you can see the values change live on the LCD, which is honestly very satisfying. This project ended up being part physics, part electronics, and part debugging pain, but it taught me how software tricks can turn weak, messy signals into something usable.