Hardware Development

We develop our own hardware, mainly for RIMS applications. However, some of these might be useful for other laser- and mass spectrometry laboratories! Have a look. All of our hardware is released open-source with well documented building instructions, firmware, and python interfaces.

Digital Outputs: DigOutBox

We developped a digital output box (called DigOutBox). Our intended use was to control laser shutters with a remote control (while working on the laser), but also from the computer. The box simply applies low (0 V) or high (5 V) voltage to the outputs, which can be fed into the TTL input channel of a laser shutter or any other device.

Since the project was developed for lasers, several safety features are built into the hardware:

• Software lockout: The remote control can be configured such that the user can easily lock-out any interaction from the computer
• Interlock: Optionally, an interlock line can be connected, which, when triggered, will close all shutters and keep them closed until untriggered.

The first version of the box can be seen here:

The box also comes with a python module to communicate from your own program, and with a GUI for computer control - assuming the software lockout is not triggered!

If you are interested, have a look at the GitHub repository and our detailed documentation of the project.