A Smartphone Attached Spectrometer ! Education With Colors of the Rainbow

The spectrum of colors is not only a sight to enjoy but also a tool used in Spectrometry. In this project, I wanted to design an extremely easy to make smartphone spectrometer module, compatible with almost all smartphones. And I really happy with the end result.

You will need the following.

1. A Diffraction grating element OR
2. Diffraction Glasses used for laser shows ( Available online for much cheaper )
3. Different light sources, lasers of different wavelengths, etc for calibration and observation
4. 3D Printer for printing design files OR
5. Laser cut files will also work

The first step was designing the spectrometer, I made sure that the design will be compatible with almost all smartphones and clip on easily. I used Fusion 360 for this process and went through multiple outputs. Overall I tried to reduce the file size as much as possible while also ensuring that the outputs are not affected.

I went through more than 6-7 designs to reach on this final design. I tried centering the spectra while also reducing size of the design and making it more easy to be used with a smartphone camera.

Overall, I have printed around 8-10 prototypes but you need not go through the hassle, I have attached the latest iteration of the design with this instructable.

The 3 files of this smartphone spectrometer are :

1. Base_body
2. Cover_body
3. Text

After going through multiple prototypes with diffraction grating getting damaged by adhesive, I decided to make the final assembly procedure adhesive free. I have provided a dedicated slit in the design to insert the diffraction grating. Placing the grating at this location will ensure good output.

Now simply attach the Small spectrometer to your smartphone and align it with your smartphone's primary or micro camera. In order to record the procedure I secured my smartphone on a stand.

You can use the SpectraUPB Android/IoS application to process these images into their related spectra.

First I started with a standard LED bulb and then used a green laser as inputs, I have attached some readings from different light sources as well

I am currently working on developing an alternative application based on OpenCV for direct spectra observations using smartphones. I think this project will need a lot more work and I will keep on updating the same over here. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.