Arduino: a Novel Solution to the Problem of High-Cost Experimental Equipment in Higher Education.

The acquisition of experimental equipment has become a problem, due to its high costs. To partially solve this problem, the scientific community has used the Arduino data acquisition board (DAB). This board has a low-cost and allows the automation of equipment in a simple and practical way. However, using only the Arduino board is no longer enough, it is now necessary to combine it with the implementation of an user-friendly interface. Through this combination, it is possible to develop sophisticated laboratory equipment. The aim of this work is to describe step by step and in a simple way the development and implementation of a low-cost experimental equipment based on Arduino for use in higher education. Also, this work tries to encourage users to develop their own laboratory equipment, and solve their equipment needs. The novelty of this work pretends to be that any user without a deep knowledge of electronics and programming can easily assemble their own lab equipment, avoiding high equipment fees. In this work, three simple examples are shown, and any teacher, researcher, or student can easily reproduce them. With the combination of three previous examples, it is possible to develop sophisticated laboratory equipment, for example a Ph Meter with temperature sensor and stirring setup. The commercial cost of this lab equipment is approximately 600 USD, but with this homemade setup, the total cost drops to 75 USD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]