I want to learn about Open Source Hardware and Robotics for science laboratories by which I mean not only hardware with open source software for operating it but hardware that has well documented parts for repair – open operating software and open blueprints, I guess.

I work in academic science, and I’d really like to automate my lab someday, but it seems most equipment gets dropped by the companies that make it after some time or the company goes out of business. While there are a few companies that have started making accessible APIs, most try to suck you into their ecosystem. Oh, and don’t get me started on the absolutely insane service contracts – 50k/yr for an evenings work and some parts. Maybe companies can pay for all that and an upgrade every five-to-ten years, but it’s not sustainable for academic labs. My boss repairs his own aktas, but I want to automate way more.

Ideally, I was hoping there might be some other scientists out there who can point me to things that might already have been done. I’d rather not re-invent the wheel unless I absolutely have to.

Alternatively, any advice on where to start learning this? It seems like many universities have “maker spaces” to work on proto-typing, and I think MIT’s “how to make almost anything” is on their open course catalog. Is there anything more lab focused?