2026 Frikkin Lasers Challenge: A 3D-Printed Raman Spectrometer

A Raman spectrometer built with three-D printing and a laser is competing in Hackaday's twenty twenty-six Frikkin Lasers Challenge. According to Hackaday, Raman spectroscopy uses laser light to identify what molecules are made of by measuring how the light scatters off them. Normally this requires expensive lab equipment, but this DIY version uses off-the-shelf optical components and a microscope objective to achieve similar results at a fraction of the cost. It's another win for open-source hardware democratizing scientific instruments for makers and students.

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