The nature of our research frequently requires the construction of specific instruments which are not available commercially. On the other hand, even if an item can be bought, it is also often possible to build similar devices in the laboratory at a much lower cost. Such endeavors have recently been greatly facilitated by the growing development of open source hardware (OSH), such as the Arduino microcontroller platform, or by 3D printing. A compilation of information on open source lab-equipment has been put together by J. M. Pearce of the Michigan Technological University. 

Here we share some of our developments which may be useful for others.