Just in time for me to take on my travels to #fosdem a new @rpimag appears! My bits this month are a build log of the amazing #Pioreactor kit from @labcrafter (representatives of which will be at FOSDEM!). As well as the 2nd part of my bigger budget #underwaterROV build where I retrofit an old Sony #camera dive case with a Pi Camera setup! #making #reuse #biosciences #bioreactor

Heading to FOSDEM in Brussels at the end of the month? So are we! 🇧🇪

Gerrit is joining the OpenFlexure Microscope stand at FOSDEM, and he isn’t coming empty-handed. He’ll have a limited supply of LabCrafter OFM kits available for purchase on the spot! First come, first served.

#FOSDEM #OpenFlexure

From “Microscopy for everyone” to “Reclaiming the public nature of the internet."

With #OpenHardware Open Flexure on making microscopes an open and accessible technology for the benefit of many

The project is used for pathology education, learning and teaching, workshops, malaria research, microbiology and plants, water studies...

https://www.apc.org/en/news/openflexure-making-microscopes-open-and-accessible-technology-benefit-many

#GOSH #OSHW #NGI0
Cc @concretedog @amcewen @oshwassociation

As the summer winds down and the kids are back in school, we're shifting our full focus back to LabCrafter. And what better way to start the week than with LabCrafter's one-year anniversary! 🥳

We want to extend a huge thank you to our customers. It's been a joy sharing our love for open-source scientific equipment with all of you.

We're working hard on some new project additions to our website, so be sure to watch this space for updates!

For now, it's time for a well-deserved cake break! 🎂🥂

OpenFlexure is an open source laboratory-grade microscope used to diagnose malaria and cancer. In this interview Julian Stirling, one of the core developers, tells us how the project evolved from its academic roots to a diverse community of people who use it, build it, sell it, teach it & develop it.
OpenFlexure is manufactured in many places to build local capacity. The next step is medical device certification, a slow but worthwhile process.

https://nlnet.nl/news/2025/20250806-openflexure-interview.html

#NGI #NGI0 #openhardware

Crimping a connector for a fluorescence add-on we're collaborating on for the OpenFlexure microscope.

@Tomhodson Oh no! We'll send you some replacements tomorrow. When you're attaching the bands to the actuators, you need to make sure that the nut tool (the green piece at the top in the picture) is blocking the actuator column before you push the band tool in. If the nut tool isn't in place, the actuator can move up when you push the band tool in.

Took the plunge and started printing parts for an Open Flexure Microscope! https://openflexure.org/projects/microscope/ Ordered the parts from here https://labcrafter.co.uk/products/openflexure-microscope

@Tomhodson @concretedog Thank you for your order, it's shipping out today! 😃

Being self-employed means we can do more of what we love. Recently we volunteered at our local children's nursery and brought the OpenFlexure Microscope. We had a great time hunting for garden creatures and viewing pre-prepared slides. The hairy fly legs were definitely the biggest hit!🪰

Forged in FreeCAD: IO Rodeo’s Open Colorimeter
It's always fabulous to see open hardware, even more wonderful when the tool chain to make the hardware is open, and lastly, great when people have used FreeCAD as part of their fascinating projects.

#opencolorimeter #science #opensource

https://blog.freecad.org/2025/06/23/forged-in-freecad-io-rodeos-open-colorimeter/
#UserStory

@ultrazool We managed to get in touch with the Audiomoth team, but they are not looking for UK distribution right now.

New blog post: Reviving the Spirit of Open Science Hardware - Highlights from the 2025 Open Hardware Summit organised by @oshwassociation

https://gerritniezen.com/reviving-the-spirit-of-open-science-hardware-highlights-from-the-2025-open

#oshw #openscience #OHS2025

Gerrit gave a talk last week at the Open Hardware Summit in Edinburgh about our collaboration with the AMYBO community to grow food with electricity! Thanks to @oshwassociation for organising this amazing summit and hosting it in the UK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI_2arUk4iA

Beautiful micrographs from the OpenFlexure microscope, showing off its ability to create huge stitched images:

https://images.openflexure.org/viewer/

@ultrazool @labcrafter @libbymiller That would be useful to know. The research team behind Audiomoth appear to be based in the UK. We can try reach out to them.

@ultrazool @libbymiller @labcrafter Interesting! We will have to look into this a bit.

@ultrazool @labcrafter Pimoroni designed it as a kit, with the HAT, sensor and cables (and optionally even plants) all included: https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/grow?variant=32208365486163

Not sure why Pi Hut says it's discontinued: https://thepihut.com/products/grow-grow-kit

@ultrazool @labcrafter Those Pimoroni sensors are designed to work with the Grow HAT and a Raspberry Pi I think? https://thepihut.com/products/grow-hat-mini-hat-only

A school in the Netherlands used our 5V boost converters (https://labcrafter.co.uk/products/5v-boost-converter-with-true-shutdown) for their sensor boxes, and gave a presentation on their inspiring project at The Things Network Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3B2SR7buZk