From Microscopes to Microbes: What’s New at LabCrafter
At the beginning of September last year, my wife and I co-founded a new open science hardware company - LabCrafter - in Wales. We started by offering open science tools to folks in the UK, and recently expanded to serve the EU as well.
In addition to being a vendor of the OpenFlexure Microscope and an active contributor to the Open Science Shop network, we also stock the Pioreactor (a Raspberry Pi-based bioreactor), the Open Colorimeter, and a 5V boost converter with true shutdown.
Long-time readers of this newsletter may already know the OpenFlexure Microscope and the Open Colorimeter, so I’d love to take this opportunity to introduce a couple of the other open hardware projects we’re excited about.
🦠 Pioreactor
I've been on the hunt for an affordable, hackable bioreactor for years. So when I discovered the Pioreactor just before its launch in 2022, I was beyond excited. The wait for it to cross the Atlantic and clear customs felt endless! That experience inspired us to bring it closer to home - LabCrafter is now the official distributor of Pioreactor in the UK.
The Pioreactor lets you grow microbes, monitor growth rates, and maintain temperature control - all powered by Raspberry Pi. It’s extendable too: you can add peristaltic pumps to automate feeding or sampling.
We're currently working with the AMYBO community, an open-source project exploring sustainable ways to grow nutritious protein, to extend the Pioreactor for sustainable protein experiments. A couple of weeks ago, we ran a hands-on session at the Cambridge Festival Schools Days, where KS3 students used the Pioreactor and OpenFlexure microscope to explore cyanobacteria as a food source.
⚡ 5V boost converter with true shutdown
A couple of years ago, while developing an open-source outdoor air quality monitor, we hit a snag: most 5V converters quickly drained our 3.7V Li-Ion batteries, even when idle. Enter the FP6277, a boost converter chip with a standout feature: true shutdown. This allows the output to be completely turned off, stopping current flow when disabled - critical for low-power applications.
We turned it into a compact breakout board, and it’s since powered projects like sensor boxes used by schools in the Netherlands. It’s small, efficient, and surprisingly handy for all kinds of battery-powered builds.
🌱 What's next?
We’re continuing to collaborate with the AMYBO community to extend the Pioreactor for sustainable protein experiments. Coming soon: a Pioreactor add-on kit for growing hydrogen-oxidising bacteria via gas fermentation. This will enable folks to experiment with producing microbial protein using just sunlight and carbon dioxide. Stay tuned!
I'll also be speaking at the Open Hardware Summit this May in Edinburgh. My talk, “Growing Food with Electricity: Sustainable Protein Production with a Kitchen-Table Bioreactor,” will explore how open science tools like the Pioreactor can power a more sustainable future. If you’re able to attend, there are still tickets available!
If there’s an open-source hardware project you'd love to see in the store, please get in touch - we’d love to hear from you.
Happy biohacking,
Gerrit Niezen