Most of the principles and techniques described for software applies to any hardware you may develop and build. Many citizen science projects collaborate on developing scientific instruments on GitHub, just like for software. Hardware development requires highly specialised skills, but we will briefly introduce best practices for open science hardware and a few useful resources.

First, watch this brief video to see what open source hardware is about [1]:


What is open source hardware, video by the Open Source Hardware Association from YouTube and archived at the Internet Archive, CC BY 3.0

Again, best practices for publishing software also applies to hardware. But on top of that, there are a number of international standards that you should try to adopt when developing your hardware.

There is a research project called Open!Next funded by the European Union which is, among other things, studying how people work together to create open source hardware. The people behind this project were also responsible for creating the DIN SPEC 3105 and Open Know-How specifications. These documents define standardised ways to document hardware designs to maximise reproducibility. For example, they remind you to document the mechanical tolerances of your hardware, the type of screws needed, or the type of plastic that’s appropriate to 3D print a part.

The Open Source Hardware Association (OSHWA) holds the most commonly adopted “official” definition of open source hardware. Specifically, open source hardware is one:

…whose design is made publicly available so that anyone can study, modify, distribute, make, and sell the design or hardware based on that design. The hardware’s source, the design from which it is made, is available in the preferred format for making modifications to it…

If you’ve followed the other standards discussed so far, your hardware certainly meets this definition, and you can even receive official certification from OSHWA.

Citizen science examples

The Wilson Center recently unveiled an interactive online exhibit on open source hardware, many of which were designed and built by citizen scientists. Feel free to do a quick browse.

A famous example is the bGeigie radiation sensor [2]. After the Fukishima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, citizens in Japan grew increasingly concerned about the lack of information on where harmful radiation was at dangerous levels. The citizen science network Safecast was formed to collect radiation data, and the bGeigie Geiger counter they developed is known today as one of the most successful grassroots citizen scientist-built pieces of open science hardware. It is still widely used and customised today, and citizen scientists have created a global radiation map covering places like Chernobyl [3].

The Gathering for Open Science Hardware (GOSH) is a global community comprised of citizen scientists, technology experts, academic scientists, and tinkerers who share a passion for open science and open hardware. If your citizen science project is considering developing hardware, it may well be worth getting in touch with this community. Wildlabs is similar to GOSH, but with a focus on applying open source technology to ecological conservation.

To learn more, you can read “Open Hardware: An Opportunity to Build Better Science" [4] published by the Wilson Center, or explore the resources listed in the "Further Information" section.

References

1. The Open Source Hardware Association (2012) What is open source hardware? Video retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xGRaPrcvVg

2. Brown, A., Franken, P., Bonner, S., Dolezal, N., & Moross, J. (2016). Safecast: Successful citizen-science for radiation measurement and communication after Fukushima. Journal of Radiological Protection, 36(2), S82–S101. https://doi.org/10.1088/0952-4746/36/2/S82

3. Brown, A. (2019, May 29). Chernobyl then and now. Safecast. https://safecast.org/2019/05/chernobyl-then-and-now/

4. Parker, A., Dosemagen, S., Molloy, J., Bowser, A., & Novak, A. (2021). Open hardware: An opportunity to build better science. Wilson Center. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/open-hardware-opportunity-build-better-science

Last modified: Wednesday, 20 October 2021, 3:31 PM