HardwareXPub Date : 2025-01-24DOI: 10.1016/j.ohx.2025.e00623
Nicholas L. Wong, Ben Delaney, Takanori Miyazaki, Emma Sokell, Fergal O’Reilly
{"title":"An affordable and adaptable Faraday isolator design for research","authors":"Nicholas L. Wong, Ben Delaney, Takanori Miyazaki, Emma Sokell, Fergal O’Reilly","doi":"10.1016/j.ohx.2025.e00623","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ohx.2025.e00623","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Presented here is an affordable Faraday isolator designed to account for conditions of high pulse energy and high total power lasers, with a clear input aperture allowing beam diameters up to 12 mm, and pulse energies and total powers limited by the dielectric crystal. This Faraday isolator is meant for laboratories with limited resources yet still need the features of commercial Faraday isolators. The design consists of a 3D printed mount housing seven permanent neodymium ring magnets, a Terbium Gallium Garnet (TGG) dielectric crystal, and two polarizing beam splitter cubes. Additionally, the design is customizable for different laser parameters, with the presented example isolator made for 1064 nm lasers. Measurements of the extinction ratio and a Stokes parameter analysis from different points within the isolator validated and characterized the constructed Faraday isolator. The final design had a measured minimum extinction ratio of <span><math><mrow><mn>31</mn><mo>.</mo><mn>5</mn><mo>±</mo><mn>0</mn><mo>.</mo><mn>3</mn></mrow></math></span> dB and a maximum of <span><math><mrow><mn>39</mn><mo>.</mo><mn>9</mn><mo>±</mo><mn>0</mn><mo>.</mo><mn>2</mn></mrow></math></span> dB depending on the polarization of back reflected light.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37503,"journal":{"name":"HardwareX","volume":"21 ","pages":"Article e00623"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143151990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HardwareXPub Date : 2025-01-18DOI: 10.1016/j.ohx.2025.e00625
Jae Hyeon Ryu , Jeonghyun Baek , Zarin Subah
{"title":"A low-cost autonomous and scalable hydroponics system for space farming","authors":"Jae Hyeon Ryu , Jeonghyun Baek , Zarin Subah","doi":"10.1016/j.ohx.2025.e00625","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ohx.2025.e00625","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>An alternative food production system using hydroponics is proposed to grow vegetables in a controlled environment that is implementable in space. The proposed system is an autonomous, modular, scalable, and soilless food production platform (ASFP) that can be installed in a spacecraft by meeting requirements and constraints set by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). A suite of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors was used to monitor indoor climate as well as water quality in ASFP. Average values of air temperature and relative humidity in the environmentally-controlled room are maintained between 20–24 °C and 48–62 %, while water quality components, including dissolved oxygen (DO, ppm), electrical conductivity (EC, µS/m), pH, and water temperature (WT, Celsius) are monitored by the IoT sensor in real-time during the growing period. Repeated measure analysis is also performed to evaluate the plant growth performance. The result indicates that plant growth is attributed significantly to pH and EC values. A real-time data visualization and sharing platform is another avenue for the space farming ecosystem in the years to come.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37503,"journal":{"name":"HardwareX","volume":"21 ","pages":"Article e00625"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143151991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HardwareXPub Date : 2025-01-15DOI: 10.1016/j.ohx.2025.e00624
Namal Jayasuriya , Malith Weerasekara , Oula Ghannoum , Yi Guo , Wen Hu
{"title":"Spi-VSTL: Image data collection platform using off-the shelf hardware for vertically supported crops in state-of-the-art glasshouses","authors":"Namal Jayasuriya , Malith Weerasekara , Oula Ghannoum , Yi Guo , Wen Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.ohx.2025.e00624","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ohx.2025.e00624","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Horticulture crop growers are moving from conventional to protected crops, aiming for quality food production utilising fewer resources. Skilled labour for monitoring and maintaining crops in these compact environments has been identified as a major cost and can be reduced using automated image-based crop monitoring. There is a range of protected cropping infrastructures targeting different types of crops. Image data collection platforms are needed to be tailored according to the infrastructure and nature of the crop. Available research or commercial-purpose image data collection platforms for indoor crops are mostly targeted at movable and small plants compared to vertically supported tall plants. Customising existing commercial systems for this specific type of crop is costly. This paper proposes a low-cost image data collection platform for monitoring vertically supported tall crops in order to reduce labour costs while expanding the monitoring tasks for maintaining better crop growth. Off-the-shelf hardware and electronic components accessible from Australia are used for this development. The proposed platform runs manually on concrete flow and on pipe rail systems found in state-of-the-art commercial glasshouse settings. The proposed motorised platform has been tested with 30 kg, and speed was measured as an average minimum of 0.06 ms<sup>−1</sup> and an average maximum of 0.47 ms<sup>−1</sup>. The usability of the proposed design has been proved with a published data set and research on plant height estimation. Other use cases and room for further development are also discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37503,"journal":{"name":"HardwareX","volume":"21 ","pages":"Article e00624"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143376677","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HardwareXPub Date : 2025-01-07DOI: 10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00615
Robert L. Read , Nathaniel Bechard , Victor Suturin , Antal Zuiderwijk , Michelle Mellenthin
{"title":"The PolyVent educational platform: An open mechanical ventilation platform for research and education","authors":"Robert L. Read , Nathaniel Bechard , Victor Suturin , Antal Zuiderwijk , Michelle Mellenthin","doi":"10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00615","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00615","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The PolyVent is an open source mechanical ventilator meant for research and education. It prioritizes openness, modularity, repairability, and modifiability. An ESP32 microcontroller controls a proportional valve which precisely modulates pressure and flow from a mixing chamber into the airway. This chamber is fed with pressurized oxygen and medical air. Solenoid valves control both gas mixing and patient inflation. The PolyVent is controllable through a command-line interface over the serial port, a convenient point of access for researchers and instructors. The VentMon, a separate IoT-enabled spirometer, provides convenient instrumentation for classroom teaching and geodistributed research teams. A “cake-dome” design allows the PolyVent to operate with or without its transparent cover in place, for easy troubleshooting and instruction. An open footprint optimizes engineering change rather than compactness. The electronics are packaged into cards on a standardized backplane, allowing one to extend functionality through the addition of new cards. The VentOS open source software that drives the machine makes it a universal and modifiable research software platform. It is intended to be the medical gas production heart of an open source human respiration research and education ecosystem, and aims to be the starting point for open source medical ventilator designs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37503,"journal":{"name":"HardwareX","volume":"21 ","pages":"Article e00615"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11783062/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143081568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HardwareXPub Date : 2024-12-31DOI: 10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00621
Pablo Raul Yanyachi, Jorch Mendoza-Chok, Brayan Espinoza-Garcia, Juan Carlos Cutipa Luque, Daniel Yanyachi Aco Cardenas
{"title":"OpenNavSense platform: A low-cost, open-source inertial navigation system for the evaluation of estimation algorithms","authors":"Pablo Raul Yanyachi, Jorch Mendoza-Chok, Brayan Espinoza-Garcia, Juan Carlos Cutipa Luque, Daniel Yanyachi Aco Cardenas","doi":"10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00621","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00621","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Inertial navigation systems (INS) are widely used in commercial aviation, maritime navigation, and unmanned vehicle guidance. However, these systems are often sensitive, costly, and challenging to access. To address these limitations, an open-source, low-cost platform named INS OpenNavSense has been developed. This platform is built using FreeRTOS, an open-source real-time operating system (RTOS) that enables the microcontroller to run parallel individual threads (tasks), providing a practical and effective tool for implementing estimation algorithms that compensate for the use of low-cost microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors instead of high-end sensors in professional INS. The main contribution of this work is the introduction of a FreeRTOS-based platform, which facilitates independent management of computational and processing tasks. The platform incorporates accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, Global Positioning System (GPS) module, and barometer sensors. Sensor data is calibrated and filtered to enhance accuracy, offering researchers a robust and reliable tool for testing their estimation algorithms. To validate this platform, the open-source Mahony library was used for attitude and heading reference system estimation, demonstrating the types of algorithms that can be tested. Tests were conducted with a drone carrying the platform as payload, and results from this low-cost INS were compared to the drone’s INS, showing both similarity and viability as a development platform.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37503,"journal":{"name":"HardwareX","volume":"21 ","pages":"Article e00621"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11762629/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143048108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HardwareXPub Date : 2024-12-30DOI: 10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00617
Riley Prince, Kai Roy, Nathan Jesudason, Marc Belinga, Jacob Field, Dylan Heiesy, Aaron Arvidson, Torrey Menne, John Selker, Chet Udell
{"title":"PolyWAG: Autonomous filtered water sampling for eDNA","authors":"Riley Prince, Kai Roy, Nathan Jesudason, Marc Belinga, Jacob Field, Dylan Heiesy, Aaron Arvidson, Torrey Menne, John Selker, Chet Udell","doi":"10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00617","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00617","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Environmental DNA (eDNA) is an ideal way of researching aquatic environments and determining what species are present in an area the biodiversity of an area, and if any invasive or endangered species are present. Traditional sampling of eDNA consists of manually filtering water, which is labor and cost-intensive for remote locations. Furthermore, commercialized solutions are either expensive or require a field operator to function. We have built a battery-powered eDNA sampler capable of autonomous multi-sampling for a greatly reduced price compared to existing technologies. Environmental DNA collection contains 3 main components: environmental DNA must be preserved, the filtered volume must be accurate, and there must be no cross-contamination between samples. The sampler operates in this way separating eDNA via filters, preserving DNA, and recording the filtered volume per sample. Our PolyWAG eDNA sampler system is a water sampling device that collects DNA samples via 47 mm filter and provides a non-invasive, safe and autonomous means of eDNA collection. The sampler can hold 24 filters and is designed to be easily replaced and reusable. A browser application is used for real-time monitoring, scheduling tasks, and data logging for time, pressure, flow, and filtered volume. Additionally, the sampler design is openly published, modular and is constantly being tested to help us optimize our software and hardware to give us the best results. The 13-step sampling sequence helps reduce cross contamination significantly. Our machine can be deployed for an extended period. It is completely autonomous and costs around $3800 for components or $6000 including labor.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37503,"journal":{"name":"HardwareX","volume":"21 ","pages":"Article e00617"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11783023/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143081563","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HardwareXPub Date : 2024-12-30DOI: 10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00616
Saba Molhemi, Leif Østergaard, Brian Hansen
{"title":"A low-cost open-source 3D-printed mouse cradle suspension system for awake or anaesthetised 1H/31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy","authors":"Saba Molhemi, Leif Østergaard, Brian Hansen","doi":"10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00616","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00616","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Awake mouse MRI and spectroscopy (MRS) are valuable techniques for studying biological questions without the confounding effects of anaesthesia. Currently, no off-the-shelf solution exists for awake mouse MRI/S. To address this, we present a Mouse Cradle Suspension System (MCSS) for awake mouse MRI/S. Our design is freely available and offers a low-cost 3D-printed setup compatible with a Bruker Biospec 94/20 scanner and commercially available <span><math><msup><mrow></mrow><mrow><mn>1</mn></mrow></msup></math></span>H/<sup>31</sup>P surface- and volume-coils, such as coils from Bruker Biospin (T20025V3) and Rapid (O-XL-HL-094). While the focus here is measurements in awake mouse brain, the coils and the presented setup is suitable for both mouse and rat brain, and studies of mouse body organs. Moreover, the design is easily modifiable to suit other applications and hardware configurations. The MCSS reduces gradient-induced coil vibrations and supports cross-coil setups. It features an inner and outer rail system for easy insertion of the coil and customized mouse cradle into the scanner. The cradle is suitable for both anaesthetized and awake mouse scans and existing habituation protocols for awake mouse MRI/S. This MCSS design ensures a smooth workflow for awake mouse MRI/S. The cost is approximately 200€, achieved using 3D-printed and off-the-shelf components.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37503,"journal":{"name":"HardwareX","volume":"21 ","pages":"Article e00616"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11783022/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143081560","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HardwareXPub Date : 2024-12-27DOI: 10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00622
Huihui Liu , Sunil Kumar , Edwin Garcia , William Flanagan , Jonathan Lightley , Christopher Dunsby , Paul M.W. French
{"title":"Open-source implementation of polarisation-resolved single-shot differential phase contrast microscopy (pDPC) on a modular openFrame-based microscope","authors":"Huihui Liu , Sunil Kumar , Edwin Garcia , William Flanagan , Jonathan Lightley , Christopher Dunsby , Paul M.W. French","doi":"10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00622","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00622","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We recently demonstrated polarisation differential phase contrast microscopy (<em>pDPC</em>) as a robust, low-cost single-shot implementation of (semi)quantitative phase imaging based on differential phase microscopy. <em>pDPC</em> utilises a polarisation-sensitive camera to simultaneously acquire four obliquely transilluminated images from which phase images mapping spatial variation of optical path difference can be calculated. <em>pDPC</em> microscopy can be implemented on existing or bespoke microscopes and can utilise radiation at a wide range of visible to near infrared wavelengths and so is straightforward to integrate with fluorescence microscopy. Here we present a low-cost open-source <em>pDPC</em> module that is designed for use with the modular open-source microscope stand “<em>openFrame</em>”. With improved hardware and software, this new <em>pDPC</em> implementation provides a real-time readout of phase across a field of view that facilitates optimisation of system alignment. We also provide protocols for background subtraction and correction of crosstalk.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37503,"journal":{"name":"HardwareX","volume":"21 ","pages":"Article e00622"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11773044/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143060751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HardwareXPub Date : 2024-12-25DOI: 10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00618
Irwansyah , Sho Otsuka , Seiji Nakagawa
{"title":"3D printed dummy heads for crosstalk cancellation studies in bone conduction","authors":"Irwansyah , Sho Otsuka , Seiji Nakagawa","doi":"10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00618","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00618","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Thanks to affordable 3D printers, creating complex designs like anatomically accurate dummy heads is now accessible. This study introduces dummy heads with 3D-printed skulls and silicone skins to explore crosstalk cancellation in bone conduction (BC). Crosstalk occurs when BC sounds from a transducer on one side of the head reach the cochlea on the opposite side. This can disrupt binaural cues essential for sound localization and speech understanding in noise for individuals using BC hearing devices. We provide a step-by-step guide to constructing the dummy head and demonstrate its application in canceling crosstalk. The 3D models used in this study are freely available for replication and further research. Several dummy heads were 3D-printed using ABS for the skull and silicone skins of varying hardness, with a 3-axis accelerometer at the cochlea location to simulate inner ear response. Since the cochlea is inaccessible in humans, we targeted crosstalk cancellation at the mastoid, assessing if this cancellation extended to the cochlea within the dummy heads. We compared these results with our previous experiments conducted on seven human subjects, who had their hearing thresholds measured with and without crosstalk cancellation, to evaluate if the dummy heads could reliably replicate human crosstalk cancellation effects<em>.</em></div></div>","PeriodicalId":37503,"journal":{"name":"HardwareX","volume":"21 ","pages":"Article e00618"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11733055/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143013421","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
HardwareXPub Date : 2024-12-24DOI: 10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00619
Ludvik Alkhoury , Giacomo Scanavini , Petras Swissler , Sudhin A. Shah , Disha Gupta , N. Jeremy Hill
{"title":"SyncGenie: A programmable event synchronization device for neuroscience research","authors":"Ludvik Alkhoury , Giacomo Scanavini , Petras Swissler , Sudhin A. Shah , Disha Gupta , N. Jeremy Hill","doi":"10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00619","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ohx.2024.e00619","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In neuroscience, accurately correlating brain activity with stimuli and other events requires precise synchronization between neural data and event timing. To achieve this, purpose-built synchronization devices are often used to detect events. This paper introduces SyncGenie, a programmable synchronization device designed for a range of uses in neuroscience research—primarily as a “trigger box” to align neurophysiological data with physical stimulus events, among other possibilities. It can support both hardware-triggered and software-triggered pulse synchronization and can even serve as a cost-effective digitizer for real-time analysis of analog signals. We provide the complete circuit-board designs, 3D models, and Arduino code necessary to build and use SyncGenie. The board is designed for easy manufacturing and assembly, with components that can be seamlessly soldered. It includes a range of connector types required for common applications, such as 3.5 mm TRS, D-sub25, BNC, and JST-XH. Additionally, SyncGenie features a user-friendly interface that allows for experiment-specific adjustments without requiring coding expertise. Its programmability, supported by our public-domain Arduino library, provides the flexibility to adapt SyncGenie to diverse experimental protocols. Overall, SyncGenie offers enhanced functionality at a lower cost relative to commercially available trigger boxes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":37503,"journal":{"name":"HardwareX","volume":"21 ","pages":"Article e00619"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11743915/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143013424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}