Science Stack: Tools Within Reach

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Arduino is a producer of microcontrollers—a key building block of other tools—and a catalyst for the open hardware and maker movements.

“Arduino, for many people, presented a door to a whole new world. There, the software had physical implications and could cause a change or trigger events out of the digital realm.”

— Creative Tim

Project in India

Researchers from VR Siddartha Engineering College created a virtual telepresence robot to observe remote locations inaccessible to humans.

Ready To Use

Plantower is an accessible building block for extremely low-cost air quality sensors that broaden who can participate in environmental monitoring.

“...a citizen science movement takes root as thousands of low-cost air quality sensors are installed in homes and backyards around the world...”

— Perry Brissette

Project in London

A Financial Times investigation discovered that air pollution on the Tube is as much as 10 times above health guidelines.

Ready To Use

RepRap is the first low-cost, open source, self-replicating 3D printer—meaning it can print a copy of itself.

“The RepRap project started everything.... It didn’t matter whether you had a printer or not, you could start working on an aspect of it and contribute to the online community.”

— Ultimaker

Project in Nicaragua

Michigan Tech researchers helped bring open-source 3D printing to Nicaragua and print prosthetics on demand.

Assembly Required

Makerbot was one of the first low-cost desktop printers, and is still one of the most popular proprietary 3D printers today.

“By shrinking the technology inside hulking, $100,000-plus machines into affordable desktop boxes, MakerBot had kicked off a revolution in 3D printing.”

— Wired

Project in California

A solar tech startup uses the MakerBot to create optimized testing rigs for cutting-edge solar panel technology.

Ready To Use

Foldscope is an ultra-affordable, portable paper microscope used in classrooms and fieldwork sites worldwide.

“The biggest thing we’re trying to do is to make people curious.... Our ambition is that every kid should be able to carry a microscope in their pocket.”

— The Atlantic

Project in Mongolia

A farmer used Foldscope to convince others to boil or pasteurize their milk, showing that something called “bacteria” existed.

Assembly Required

OpenFlexure is a low-cost, 3D printed microscope with high resolution mechanism and the resolution of a professional microscope.

“These resources are making advanced diagnostics accessible even in resource-poor regions that lack trained technicians, cold storage and reliable power.”

— Nature Portfolio

Project in Tanzania

OpenFlexure microscopes undergo trials for use in malaria diagnosis.

Build From Scratch

PyCubed is a DIY satellite for low earth orbit that is entirely programmable in Python, a versatile and easy-to-use programming language.

“Going forward, [PyCubed] provides NASA a simple, low-cost platform for future technology demonstration needs.”

— NASA

Project in outer space

The V-R3x mission uses a swarm of PyCubed satellites to explore how to communicate and navigate multiple spacecraft autonomously.

Assembly Required

IOS TubeSat Kits are low-cost professional grade satellites that can be purchased as DIY kits and launched using the Interorbital's low-cost NEPTUNE Rocket launch service.

“Sometimes we feel like renegades or outcasts, building these rockets by ourselves.... We are out to show the world this can all be done at truly radically lower costs.”

— National Geographic

Project in Brazil

An IOS TubeSat satelite probe was assembled by middle school students and launched to the International Space Station.

Assembly Required

Quori is a socially interactive robot for Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research that can be taken apart and customized to fit the needs of any lab.

“With Quori’s main role as as a teaching robot, its genderlessness can help provide a blank slate for human-robot interaction research....”

— University of Pennsylvania

Project in Pennsylvania

HRI researchers are hoping to reduce gender bias in the field of robotic designs

Other

Wearable Symptom Tracker helps individuals self-identify their bodily systems and monitor the spread of viral infections, such as Covid-19.

“[Wearable Symptom Tracker] is actually a revolutionary idea that can help enable entirely new classes of wearable devices...and thus has broader impacts beyond just this project.”

— UC San Diego

Project in California

UC San Diego engineers are developing Wearable Symptom Trackers to measure temperature and respiration—key indicators of COVID-19.

Other

OpenROV is an underwater exploration drone collaboratively developed using open source design.

“You can't protect what you don't understand...we've seen groups use the underwater drones to help educate fishing communities on the biology of the ecosystems they rely on.”

— National Geographic

Project in Mexico

A marine conservation organization in Mexico uses OpenRov devices to locate fish spawning sites where divers can't reach.

Assembly Required

Spotter is the largest privately-owned marine weather sensor network.

“[This is] an example of new, private-sector weather platforms that could help companies and governments improve forecasts.”

— The Washington Post

Project worldwide

Aqualink, an oceanography citizen science initiative, is dipsersing Spotters to indiviudals who deploy the units at endangered reef sites.

Ready To Use

Pocketlab is a sensor for STEM education designed to be ultra easy to use, making teaching and learning more accessible to those without technical backgrounds.

“The exciting thing about PocketLab Air is not just the sensor itself, but the ability to collaborate on global climate and air quality experiments.”

— Digital Trends

Project in Florida

Elementary students conducted experiments measuring air quality at their school as cars idled in lines for morning drop-off.

Assembly Required

PurpleAir is a low-cost sensor often used by citizen scientists to monitor air quality in local communities.

“You can’t give the government control over monitoring and enforcement.... Having this type of power in the public’s hands, it gives a check on the government.”

— The New York Times

Project in California

During the California wild fires, Bay Area residents monitored air quality themselves, crowdsourcing results across the region.

Assembly Required

AudioMoth is a sensor typically used to monitor biodiversity, but is so easy to build that it has been used for unexpected applications, such as measuring noise pollution.

“The hope is that open-source tech will make it cheap enough to gather data...to focus efforts to save endangered species and tackle the effects of climate change.”

— The Wall Street Journal

Project in California

UC Merced researchers are using AudioMoths and AI to automatically recognize and monitor bird calls.

Ready To Use

bGeigie is an open hardware radiation monitor developed in response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

“[bGeigie] has gained a reputation for objectivity both in its data and it its commentary [and] is increasingly sought by journalists and others for fact-checking....”

— Journal of Radiological Protection

Project in Japan

Citizen scientists use bGeigie(Safecast) monitors to crowdsource radiation levels across Japan.

Ready To Use

Assembly Required

Build From Scratch

Flora is an open source microprocessor by Adafruit, an important open source company for hardware building blocks.

“Designers are accustomed to working with texture, color and form...but now electronics gives us another avenue of expression.”

— New York Times

Project in New York

A wearable device wirelessly transmits heart beats to a Flora receiver chip and visualizes them.

Ready To Use

Fieldkit is a customizable tool to help gather easy-to-share environmental data from the wild, enabling more people to participate in conservation.

“This includes people building FieldKit versions of their own [and] used in ways we don't anticipate.... It puts these tools in the hands of people doing environmental justice work or citizen science.”

— Forbes

Project in Cameroon

Researchers are deploying Fieldkits in the rainforest to study ecoystem changes and support local scientists and communities.

Assembly Required

OpenTrons is an automated pipetting machine that helps researchers save more time for analysis by avoiding tedious manual labwork.

“[OpenTrons] helps provide fast and accurate COVID-19 testing at a low cost to government agencies, hospitals, businesses and schools.”

— Pandemic Response Lab

Project in New York

Featuring OpenTrons units, the Pandemic Response Laboratory opened last year to help New York City quickly overcome COVID-19 testing delays.

Ready To Use

Open Enzyme Collection is an initiative enabling scientists to "locally" manufacture enzymes and reporter genes used in molecular biology research.

“We estimate that you can save at least 80–90% of the cost of an enzyme by producing your own.”

— Nature

Project in Chile

Sidestepping bureaucratic complications when importing, researchers use Open Enzymes to study invasive aquatic species and potato viruses.

Ready To Use

Raspberry Pi is an open source, single-board computer, originally created to teach computer science to young people.

“They might not look like much, but tiny Raspberry Pi computers could help society relearn what it means to be technically literate.”

— CNET

Project in the United States

During the pandemic, the Raspberry Pi Foundation ramped up production of chips that could be used in ventilators.

Ready To Use

Actifield is an automated device that measures animal movements, using open source and low-cost components.

“If you have the blueprint for a piece of equipment, you can understand how it works. You can repair your equipment if it breaks down and...adapt it to your local needs.”

— Nature

Project in Ghana

A researcher developed the low-cost Actifield to test for potential drug compounds that could modify behaviour in mice.

Ready To Use

Spikerbox is a low-cost bioamplifier that allows you to measure real-time electrical activity in the body.

“[Spikerbox] could revolutionize mental health research — and prevent others from experiencing depression.”

— OZY

Project in Puerto Rico

Researchers at the University of Puerto Rico use Spikerbox to study how brain impulses ‘talk’ to different parts of the body.

Assembly Required

LED Zappelin' is a low-cost microcontroller that addresses challenges in specialized microscopy for neuroscience research on color vision and optogenetics.

“[LED Zappelin's] low-cost and spectrum flexibility added to its accessible stimulation programming, makes it a favourable design compared to other available commercial solutions.”

— HardwareX

Project in UK

Researchers at the University of Sussex used LED Zappelin' to study the color vision of zebrafish retina.

Build From Scratch

SORT BY:

Encourages New Uses

Broadens User Communities

Promotes Co-Creation

Democratizes Ideas and Designs

$$$

$$$$

Compute

Measure

Build

Makerbot was one of the first low-cost desktop printers, and is still one of the most popular proprietary 3D printers today.

“By shrinking the technology inside hulking, $100,000-plus machines into affordable desktop boxes, MakerBot had kicked off a revolution in 3D printing.”

— Wired

Project in California

A solar tech startup uses the MakerBot to create optimized testing rigs for cutting-edge solar panel technology.

Ready To Use

RepRap is the first low-cost, open source, self-replicating 3D printer—meaning it can print a copy of itself.

“The RepRap project started everything.... It didn’t matter whether you had a printer or not, you could start working on an aspect of it and contribute to the online community.”

— Ultimaker

Project in Nicaragua

Michigan Tech researchers helped bring open-source 3D printing to Nicaragua and print prosthetics on demand.

Assembly Required

Open Enzyme Collection is an initiative enabling scientists to "locally" manufacture enzymes and reporter genes used in molecular biology research.

“We estimate that you can save at least 80–90% of the cost of an enzyme by producing your own.”

— Nature

Project in Chile

Sidestepping bureaucratic complications when importing, researchers use Open Enzymes to study invasive aquatic species and potato viruses.

Ready To Use

OpenROV is an underwater exploration drone collaboratively developed using open source design.

“You can't protect what you don't understand...we've seen groups use the underwater drones to help educate fishing communities on the biology of the ecosystems they rely on.”

— National Geographic

Project in Mexico

A marine conservation organization in Mexico uses OpenRov devices to locate fish spawning sites where divers can't reach.

Assembly Required

Arduino is a producer of microcontrollers—a key building block of other tools—and a catalyst for the open hardware and maker movements.

“Arduino, for many people, presented a door to a whole new world. There, the software had physical implications and could cause a change or trigger events out of the digital realm.”

— Creative Tim

Project in India

Researchers from VR Siddartha Engineering College created a virtual telepresence robot to observe remote locations inaccessible to humans.

Ready To Use

Flora is an open source microprocessor by Adafruit, an important open source company for hardware building blocks.

“Designers are accustomed to working with texture, color and form...but now electronics gives us another avenue of expression.”

— New York Times

Project in New York

A wearable device wirelessly transmits heart beats to a Flora receiver chip and visualizes them.

Ready To Use

LED Zappelin' is a low-cost microcontroller that addresses challenges in specialized microscopy for neuroscience research on color vision and optogenetics.

“[LED Zappelin's] low-cost and spectrum flexibility added to its accessible stimulation programming, makes it a favourable design compared to other available commercial solutions.”

— HardwareX

Project in UK

Researchers at the University of Sussex used LED Zappelin' to study the color vision of zebrafish retina.

Build From Scratch

Raspberry Pi is an open source, single-board computer, originally created to teach computer science to young people.

“They might not look like much, but tiny Raspberry Pi computers could help society relearn what it means to be technically literate.”

— CNET

Project in the United States

During the pandemic, the Raspberry Pi Foundation ramped up production of chips that could be used in ventilators.

Ready To Use

Foldscope is an ultra-affordable, portable paper microscope used in classrooms and fieldwork sites worldwide.

“The biggest thing we’re trying to do is to make people curious.... Our ambition is that every kid should be able to carry a microscope in their pocket.”

— The Atlantic

Project in Mongolia

A farmer used Foldscope to convince others to boil or pasteurize their milk, showing that something called “bacteria” existed.

Assembly Required

OpenFlexure is a low-cost, 3D printed microscope with high resolution mechanism and the resolution of a professional microscope.

“These resources are making advanced diagnostics accessible even in resource-poor regions that lack trained technicians, cold storage and reliable power.”

— Nature Portfolio

Project in Tanzania

OpenFlexure microscopes undergo trials for use in malaria diagnosis.

Build From Scratch

OpenTrons is an automated pipetting machine that helps researchers save more time for analysis by avoiding tedious manual labwork.

“[OpenTrons] helps provide fast and accurate COVID-19 testing at a low cost to government agencies, hospitals, businesses and schools.”

— Pandemic Response Lab

Project in New York

Featuring OpenTrons units, the Pandemic Response Laboratory opened last year to help New York City quickly overcome COVID-19 testing delays.

Ready To Use

Quori is a socially interactive robot for Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research that can be taken apart and customized to fit the needs of any lab.

“With Quori’s main role as as a teaching robot, its genderlessness can help provide a blank slate for human-robot interaction research....”

— University of Pennsylvania

Project in Pennsylvania

HRI researchers are hoping to reduce gender bias in the field of robotic designs

Other

IOS TubeSat Kits are low-cost professional grade satellites that can be purchased as DIY kits and launched using the Interorbital's low-cost NEPTUNE Rocket launch service.

“Sometimes we feel like renegades or outcasts, building these rockets by ourselves.... We are out to show the world this can all be done at truly radically lower costs.”

— National Geographic

Project in Brazil

An IOS TubeSat satelite probe was assembled by middle school students and launched to the International Space Station.

Assembly Required

PyCubed is a DIY satellite for low earth orbit that is entirely programmable in Python, a versatile and easy-to-use programming language.

“Going forward, [PyCubed] provides NASA a simple, low-cost platform for future technology demonstration needs.”

— NASA

Project in outer space

The V-R3x mission uses a swarm of PyCubed satellites to explore how to communicate and navigate multiple spacecraft autonomously.

Assembly Required

Actifield is an automated device that measures animal movements, using open source and low-cost components.

“If you have the blueprint for a piece of equipment, you can understand how it works. You can repair your equipment if it breaks down and...adapt it to your local needs.”

— Nature

Project in Ghana

A researcher developed the low-cost Actifield to test for potential drug compounds that could modify behaviour in mice.

Ready To Use

AudioMoth is a sensor typically used to monitor biodiversity, but is so easy to build that it has been used for unexpected applications, such as measuring noise pollution.

“The hope is that open-source tech will make it cheap enough to gather data...to focus efforts to save endangered species and tackle the effects of climate change.”

— The Wall Street Journal

Project in California

UC Merced researchers are using AudioMoths and AI to automatically recognize and monitor bird calls.

Ready To Use

Fieldkit is a customizable tool to help gather easy-to-share environmental data from the wild, enabling more people to participate in conservation.

— Forbes

Project in Cameroon

Researchers are deploying Fieldkits in the rainforest to study ecoystem changes and support local scientists and communities.

Assembly Required

Plantower is an accessible building block for extremely low-cost air quality sensors that broaden who can participate in environmental monitoring.

“...a citizen science movement takes root as thousands of low-cost air quality sensors are installed in homes and backyards around the world...”

— Perry Brissette

Project in London

A Financial Times investigation discovered that air pollution on the Tube is as much as 10 times above health guidelines.

Ready To Use

Pocketlab is a sensor for STEM education designed to be ultra easy to use, making teaching and learning more accessible to those without technical backgrounds.

“The exciting thing about PocketLab Air is not just the sensor itself, but the ability to collaborate on global climate and air quality experiments.”

— Digital Trends

Project in Florida

Elementary students conducted experiments measuring air quality at their school as cars idled in lines for morning drop-off.

Assembly Required

PurpleAir is a low-cost sensor often used by citizen scientists to monitor air quality in local communities.

“You can’t give the government control over monitoring and enforcement.... Having this type of power in the public’s hands, it gives a check on the government.”

— The New York Times

Project in California

During the California wild fires, Bay Area residents monitored air quality themselves, crowdsourcing results across the region.

Assembly Required

Spikerbox is a low-cost bioamplifier that allows you to measure real-time electrical activity in the body.

“[Spikerbox] could revolutionize mental health research — and prevent others from experiencing depression.”

— OZY

Project in Puerto Rico

Researchers at the University of Puerto Rico use Spikerbox to study how brain impulses ‘talk’ to different parts of the body.

Assembly Required

Spotter is the largest privately-owned marine weather sensor network.

“[This is] an example of new, private-sector weather platforms that could help companies and governments improve forecasts.”

— The Washington Post

Project worldwide

Aqualink, an oceanography citizen science initiative, is dipsersing Spotters to indiviudals who deploy the units at endangered reef sites.

Ready To Use

Wearable Symptom Tracker helps individuals self-identify their bodily systems and monitor the spread of viral infections, such as Covid-19.

“[Wearable Symptom Tracker] is actually a revolutionary idea that can help enable entirely new classes of wearable devices...and thus has broader impacts beyond just this project.”

— UC San Diego

Project in California

UC San Diego engineers are developing Wearable Symptom Trackers to measure temperature and respiration—key indicators of COVID-19.

Other

bGeigie is an open hardware radiation monitor developed in response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

“[bGeigie] has gained a reputation for objectivity both in its data and it its commentary [and] is increasingly sought by journalists and others for fact-checking....”

— Journal of Radiological Protection

Project in Japan

Citizen scientists use bGeigie(Safecast) monitors to crowdsource radiation levels across Japan.

Ready To Use

Assembly Required

Build From Scratch

SORT BY:

Microcontroller

Sensor

3D printer

Microscope

Satellite

Robot

Drone

Biological Material

Open Documentation

Citizen Science Use

Open Process

Community Platform

Accessible Instructions

Technical Ease of Use

Modular Design

Open Data

Open License

Arduino is a producer of microcontrollers—a key building block of other tools—and a catalyst for the open hardware and maker movements.

“Arduino, for many people, presented a door to a whole new world. There, the software had physical implications and could cause a change or trigger events out of the digital realm.”

— Creative Tim

Project in India

Researchers from VR Siddartha Engineering College created a virtual telepresence robot to observe remote locations inaccessible to humans.

Ready To Use

Plantower is an accessible building block for extremely low-cost air quality sensors that broaden who can participate in environmental monitoring.

“...a citizen science movement takes root as thousands of low-cost air quality sensors are installed in homes and backyards around the world...”

— Perry Brissette

Project in London

A Financial Times investigation discovered that air pollution on the Tube is as much as 10 times above health guidelines.

Ready To Use

RepRap is the first low-cost, open source, self-replicating 3D printer—meaning it can print a copy of itself.

“The RepRap project started everything.... It didn’t matter whether you had a printer or not, you could start working on an aspect of it and contribute to the online community.”

— Ultimaker

Project in Nicaragua

Michigan Tech researchers helped bring open-source 3D printing to Nicaragua and print prosthetics on demand.

Assembly Required

Makerbot was one of the first low-cost desktop printers, and is still one of the most popular proprietary 3D printers today.

“By shrinking the technology inside hulking, $100,000-plus machines into affordable desktop boxes, MakerBot had kicked off a revolution in 3D printing.”

— Wired

Project in California

A solar tech startup uses the MakerBot to create optimized testing rigs for cutting-edge solar panel technology.

Ready To Use

Foldscope is an ultra-affordable, portable paper microscope used in classrooms and fieldwork sites worldwide.

“The biggest thing we’re trying to do is to make people curious.... Our ambition is that every kid should be able to carry a microscope in their pocket.”

— The Atlantic

Project in Mongolia

A farmer used Foldscope to convince others to boil or pasteurize their milk, showing that something called “bacteria” existed.

Assembly Required

OpenFlexure is a low-cost, 3D printed microscope with high resolution mechanism and the resolution of a professional microscope.

“These resources are making advanced diagnostics accessible even in resource-poor regions that lack trained technicians, cold storage and reliable power.”

— Nature Portfolio

Project in Tanzania

OpenFlexure microscopes undergo trials for use in malaria diagnosis.

Build From Scratch

PyCubed is a DIY satellite for low earth orbit that is entirely programmable in Python, a versatile and easy-to-use programming language.

“Going forward, [PyCubed] provides NASA a simple, low-cost platform for future technology demonstration needs.”

— NASA

Project in outer space

The V-R3x mission uses a swarm of PyCu