Digital Designs and Scientific Hardware - Open-Source Lab: How to Build Your Own Hardware and Reduce Research Costs - page 241

formed by The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science (also known as Public
Laboratory). 94 The Public Laboratory mission is “Using inexpensive DIY techniques, we seek
to change how people see the world in environmental, social, and political terms. We are act-
ivists, educators, technologists, and community organizers interested in new ways to pro-
mote action, intervention, and awareness through a participatory research model.” Thus, us-
ing inexpensive components and open-source software, Public Laboratory has developed an
Android-based cell phone spectrometer with a range of 400-900 nm and a resolution of 3 nm
[ 54 ] . The properties of the Public Laboratory spectrometer are comparable to those of a com-
mercial mobile hand-held visible light spectrometer that costs over $2500 . 95 A screenshot of a
cell phone equipped with the Public Laboratory Spectral Workbench software is shown in Fig-
ure 6.85 .
FIGURE 6.85 A screenshot of a cell phone equipped with the Public Laboratory Spectral
Workbench software.
Public Laboratory maintains a detailed site for teaching everyone about spectroscopy. It
also provides comprehensive instructions on how to build several varieties of spectrometers