date-created: '2020-06-27'
date-updated: '2025-12-08'
manifest-author:
    name: Appropedia
    email: admin@appropedia.org
title: 'Open Source Digitally Replicable Lab-Grade Scales'
description: 'This study provides designs for a low-cost, easily replicable open-source lab-grade digital scale that can be used as a precision balance. The design is such that it can be manufactured for use in most labs throughout the world with open-source RepRap-class material extrusion-based 3-D printers for the mechanical components and readily available open-source electronics including the Arduino Nano. Several versions of the design were fabricated and tested for precision and accuracy for a range of load cells. The results showed the open-source scale was found to be repeatable within 0.05 g with multiple load cells, with even better precision (0.005 g) depending on load cell range and style. The scale tracks linearly with proprietary lab-grade scales, meeting the performance specified in the load cell data sheets, indicating that it is accurate across the range of the load cell installed.'
keywords: 'open source hardware, 3d printing, additive manufacturing, distributed manufacturing, laboratory equipment, open hardware, open source, scale, balance, mass, chemistry'
project-link: 'https://www.appropedia.org/Open_Source_Digitally_Replicable_Lab-Grade_Scales'
contact:
    name: U
    social:
        platform: Appropedia
        user-handle: U
version: 40
development-stage: D
made: false
image: 'https://www.appropedia.org/w/images/c/cc/Oscale.png'
license:
    documentation: CC-BY-SA-4.0
licensor:
    name: U
    affliation: C
    contact: 'https://www.appropedia.org/U'
documentation-home: 'https://www.appropedia.org/Open_Source_Digitally_Replicable_Lab-Grade_Scales'
documentation-language: e