The OpenSpectrometer project is a collaborative effort to create freely-available mechanical designs, electronic plans, and software for a USB spectrophotometer. The end goal is an instrument that is inexpensive to build, easy to use, simple to modify, and as accurate and precise as a commercial off-the-shelf unit.

The OpenSpectrometer will integrate commercially-available electronic and optics parts with custom printed circuit boards (PCBs) and an inexpensive a wooden enclosure.

Beyond hardware, the project will develop embedded firmware, and desktop user software, and an online community-driven spectral database.