Laboratory hardware is often custom made or significantly modified. To improve reproducibility, it is imperative that these novel instruments are properly documented. Increasing adoption of open source hardware practices can potentially improve this situation. This article explores how open licences and open development methodologies enable custom instrumentation to be reproduced, scrutinized and properly recorded.
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Acknowledgements
R.W.B. acknowledges financial support from the Royal Society (URF\R1\180153).
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At the time of writing, R.W.B. was a director of OpenFlexure Industries, which sells kits of the OpenFlexure Microscope, an open hardware device.
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Related linksRelated links
Adafruit: https://www.adafruit.com/
Arduino: https://www.arduino.cc/
GitBuilding: https://gitbuilding.io/
GOSH: https://openhardware.science/
LabMaker: https://www.labmaker.org/
OpenFlexure Microscope: https://openflexure.org/projects/microscope/
Open Hardware Makers: https://openhardware.space/
Open Neuroscience: https://open-neuroscience.com/
OpenQCM: https://openqcm.com/
OpenTrons: https://opentrons.com/
Prusa Research: https://www.prusa3d.com/
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Bowman, R.W. Improving instrument reproducibility with open source hardware. Nat Rev Methods Primers 3, 27 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-023-00218-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-023-00218-x
