The Public Lab spectrometry project is an open source community effort to develop low-cost spectrometers for a range of purposes. All open spectrometry hardware and software efforts are welcome here! **Join in by:** * Learning [what spectrometry is](#Whats+spectrometry) * Reading about goals and [asking great questions](#Frequently+Asked+Questions) * Building a basic spectrometer using [one of our starter kits](#Starter+Kits) * Trying (and critiquing) our [community-made how-to guides](#Activities) and posting your own * Building on others’ work; hack and remix the kits to refine and expand them * [Share your upgrades](#Upgrades) for others to try -- and perhaps for inclusion in an upcoming starter kit release or add-on kit **** ## Starter Kits Public Lab’s Kits initiative offers several starter kits, including many of the basic components, and instructions for constructing a basic visible light spectrometer. The point of the kits is to provide a shared reference design for building experimental setups onto. Lego Spectrometer Kit Our most recent kit, incorporating community improvements while balancing low cost and ease of construction. Choose between webcam and Raspberry Pi camera versions and build attachments width standard Lego connectors. Build one Buy one Papercraft Spectrometry Intro Kit A $9 paper spectrometer which you can attach to a smartphone or webcam. It’s made of paper to reduce cost and complexity, and is mainly intended as an “introductory” or educational kit. The flat design can be printed on a laser printer or photocopied to make more. Build one Buy one **** ## Activities This is a list of community-generated guides for specific applications using your spectrometry setup (either a [starter kit](#Starter+Kits) or a [modded design](#Upgrades)). These [activities can be categorized](https://publiclab.org/wiki/activity-categories), and some may be more reproduced -- or reproducible -- than others. Try them out to build your skills, and help improve them by leaving comments. Together, we can repeat and refine the activities into experiments. > **Note:** If you are working on an **urgent issue** such as a threat to your or someone else’s health, please know that these techniques may not be ready for your use; it's possible that they never will be. [Read more here](/notes/gretchengehrke/09-29-2016/common-low-cost-technique-limitations) ### Activity grid [activities:spectrometry] **** ## Upgrades Have you added to your starter kit, improved it, or redesigned it? Show others how to take it to the next level by posting a build guide here: [upgrades:spectrometry] Add your upgrade guide here Request or propose an upgrade _Mods should include a parts list and a step-by-step construction guide with photo documentation. See an example._ **** ## Challenges We're working to refine and improve DIY spectrometry on a number of fronts; here, take a look at the leading challenges we're hoping to solve, and post your own. For now, we're using the Q&A feature, so just click "Ask a question" to post your own challenge. Be sure to add: * constraints: expense, complexity * goals: performance, use cases [questions:spectrometry-challenge] **** ## Builds There’s a lot going on in open source spectrometry -- if you’ve developed another open source design you’d like to show others how to construct, post it here! * [RamanPi](https://hackaday.io/project/1279-ramanpi-raman-spectrometer) * [Hackteria “drop”-style spectrometers](https://publiclab.org/notes/gaudi/04-03-2014/diy-micro-volume-spectrophotometer) / [DIY NanoDrop on Hackteria.org](http://hackteria.org/wiki/index.php/DIY_NanoDrop) * _Add yours here_ ##What's spectrometry? Colored light is often a blend of different colors. A spectrometer is a device which splits those colors apart, like a prism, and measures the strength of each color. A typical output of a spectrometer looks like this spectrum of the daytime sky, with the actual light spectrum at the top and the graph of wavelength (horizontal axis, in nanometers of wavelength) and intensity (vertical axis) below: [![sky.png](https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/005/455/original/sky.png)](https://spectralworkbench.org/analyze/spectrum/19882) > Needed: overview of spectra, calibration, units, comparison, and fluorescence/absorption. Please edit this page or link to a resource, potentially [the Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectroscopy), although that's quite full of technical jargon. ## Software Spectral data can be analyzed with https://spectralworkbench.org to create spectra plots, find centers of emissions plots, and find similar spectra. Data also can be exported in various formats (JSON, CSV, XML) for further analysis and visualization. ## How does this compare to a lab instrument? The [Desktop Spectrometry Starter Kit](/wiki/desktop-spectrometry-kit-3-0) is only one part in an experimental setup, and the following shows where it fits in an overall diagram of a lab spectrometric setup: [![tmp_31873-IMG_20161027_101601_2-79757779.jpg](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/018/635/large/tmp_31873-IMG_20161027_101601_2-79757779.jpg)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/018/635/original/tmp_31873-IMG_20161027_101601_2-79757779.jpg) [![tmp_31873-IMG_20161027_095939_2-108076392.jpg](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/018/636/large/tmp_31873-IMG_20161027_095939_2-108076392.jpg)](https://publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/018/636/original/tmp_31873-IMG_20161027_095939_2-108076392.jpg) There are many, many different types of spectrometry and spectrometers -- many don’t even measure light. Even among those that do, some detect light in the ultraviolet range, and others in the infrared range of light. The range of Public Lab spectrometers depends on the range of the commercially available cameras we attach them to (~400-700 nanometer wavelengths). A commercially available product with a slightly wider range (from 335 to 1000 nanometers) is [available from Cole Parmer](http://www.coleparmer.com/Product/Cole_Parmer_Visible_spectrophotometer_335_to_1000_nm_wavelength_range_analog_output/UX-83055-10). **** ## Frequently Asked Questions [questions:spectrometry] Note our previous Frequently Asked Questions page, which [can be found here »](/wiki/spectrometer-faq) -- please help port these into the new system, here!...
Author | Comment | Last activity | Moderation | ||
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Ag8n | "Out of curiosity only. " | Read more » | over 2 years ago | |||
Ag8n | "Ok, the parameters are listed. Is there an example of a study set up? " | Read more » | over 2 years ago | |||
Ag8n | "Thank you. That's what I was after. Much appreciated!!! " | Read more » | over 2 years ago | |||
fongvania | "I have access to the paper you're talking about--here is a snippet of the section you may be most interested in: Let me check if I'm allowed t..." | Read more » | over 2 years ago | |||
Ag8n | "Working my way through the paper. One of the things the original talks about is " Extraction by immersion in DMSO" and "OD435/OD415 nm". This is ..." | Read more » | over 2 years ago | |||
fongvania | "Thank you for reading! Let me know if there's anything I can help clarify " | Read more » | over 2 years ago | |||
Ag8n | "Quite interesting. It will take several more readings before it's understood. " | Read more » | over 2 years ago | |||
bhamster | "Hi @Cheesealmighty, thanks for sharing about your work. While it's not spectrometry, there are a couple research notes on turbidity sensors by @wma..." | Read more » | over 2 years ago | |||
Cheesealmighty | "We won't be making any changes to the catheter itself, it's not much different from taking photos of the see through tube/collection chamber. It sh..." | Read more » | over 2 years ago | |||
Ag8n | "Has Medtronic been approached about this? That should probably be the first approach. As far as the rest of it goes... We made catheters, heart a..." | Read more » | over 2 years ago | |||
Ag8n | "On battery life- it wasn't very good. Mercury (as in mercury lamps) have a lot of lines that go all through the uv/vis spectrum. For a while(as in ..." | Read more » | almost 3 years ago | |||
warren | "Definitely these can be dangerous for the eyes. The LEDs seem nice because they are a little less 1800s feeling than those tiny tiny mercury bulbs!..." | Read more » | almost 3 years ago | |||
Ag8n | "I got one of the 254 nm UVC lamps that might be usable for an uv/vis instrument as a gift . It's advertised as for sterilization of surfaces. The ..." | Read more » | almost 3 years ago | |||
Ag8n | "Sorry, but I only have access to the abstract. The wavelength mentioned there is 633 nm. Is the correct wavelength 633 nm or 533 nm? Regards " | Read more » | almost 3 years ago | |||
alejobonifacio | "Hi @warren! maybe you have something to say about this... :smiley: " | Read more » | almost 3 years ago | |||
warren | "This seems like a great application and very feasible. Indeed the color/sensitivity range of anthocyanin in cabbage juice is really huge. 533 is in..." | Read more » | almost 3 years ago | |||
Ag8n | "Maybe transmission is possible. Most of the materials we analyzed could only be tested with reflectance. See if that makes sense for the material..." | Read more » | almost 3 years ago | |||
Ag8n | "Take a look at the video for the standardization of the instrument. If I read it correctly, with a few changes in the software (they list the code..." | Read more » | almost 3 years ago | |||
belkinsa | "I built mine but haven't tested it yet as I need hunt down a CFL :frowning_face: .... " | Read more » | almost 3 years ago | |||
Knowbosy | "Wow this is a great content and i love it if some one wish to share or gather knowledge you can visit this site " | Read more » | almost 3 years ago | |||
liz | "Thanks this is great! thank you @mdiego2798 " | Read more » | almost 3 years ago | |||
bhamster | "Oh no worries at all, @mdiego2798, thanks for the photos, they are helpful! Looking forward to seeing the spectra you're getting :smiley: " | Read more » | almost 3 years ago | |||
mdiego2798 | "Of course, sorry I didn't think about that. I just uploaded a couple of pictures of the spectrometer to help. As soon as possible I'll try to uploa..." | Read more » | almost 3 years ago | |||
bhamster | "Very neat, thanks so much for sharing @mdiego2798! Is there any chance you have a picture of the assembled spec? " | Read more » | almost 3 years ago |