11

LENS

“Scientists in developing countries, grassroots community

organisations, and citizen scientists can struggle to obtain

and maintain the equipment they require to answer their

own research questions. The result of this exclusion from

participation is that scientific research becomes ever

more elitist, as a small number of people decide what the

worthwhile and valid projects are.”

Dr Max Liboiron and Dr Jenny Molloy

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL

design information, and difficult to repair also blocks
creativity and customisation,” Dr Liboiron explains.
Open Science Hardware can increase access to
tools by lowering financial barriers to participation
in research, and by providing flexibility for hardware
customisation. The GOSH community hopes these
efforts will help democratise scientific practice
by increasing the diversity of people with the
tools required to perform research for knowledge
discovery, education, innovation, and civic action. Also,
decentralised production chains, enabled by digital
fabrication methods, could create markets where it is
difficult to import scientific instruments.

FRUGAL SCIENCE
For example, Prof. Tom Baden (University of
Sussex) and colleagues published plans for FlyPi,
a 3D-printable fluorescence microscope. He
estimates that FlyPi costs around five times less
than comparable models. “All of our designs are
available on GitHub, and we also put the best ones on
Thingiverse and Open-Labware.net so they are freely
accessible to anyone who wishes to use them.”
The GOSH Roadmap’s purpose is to create a
focused plan for addressing the primary barrier to
Open Science Hardware achieving its full potential:
communities that use and develop open hardware are
diverse groups, often separated by geographical and

Left

GOSH 2017

electronics workshop

Above

Open Science

Hardware

disciplinary borders. This separation limits their ability

to collaborate and collectively support Open Science

Hardware as a single cohesive community.

THE ROAD TO 2025

Despite this, many developers of open hardware

for science are highly active when it comes to

sharing designs and information online, but poor

documentation means that many Open Science

Hardware projects never go far beyond the research

lab or small community that initiated them, which

significantly limits their potential use and impact.

GOSH has identified three critical activities that will

enable achievement of their ambitious goal by 2025.

These include ensuring that information about Open

Science Hardware is accessible to a broad audience,

securing support from existing institutions, such as

colleges and universities, and expanding the existing

community. Also, the introduction of documentation

standards and quality control guidelines will help

ensure that projects are shared appropriately.

GOSH members will move forward with plans for

scaling both the community and the reach of open

hardware distribution, at GOSH 2018 in Shenzhen,

China. Find out more at: hsmag.cc/luSFbQ.

ULTIMATE IMAGING

Hyperspectral imaging systems are increasingly being

used in precision agriculture to monitor the health of crops.

These devices cost from £15 000 to £80 000, or more when

purchased commercially, but Prof. Tom Baden and PhD

student Nora Nevala have developed an open-source

version that costs just £1500 and even works underwater!