Designing of low-cost spectrometer for sensor application

Increase in the population demands healthy food, clean air, fresh water and high secured life. To fulfil the above demands, spectrometers such as ultraviolet, Fourier transformation infrared, Raman, HPLC, gas chromatography are used as confirmation tool for identification of materials. The cost and space of above-mentioned instruments are more and to build low-cost spectrometer with high efficiency is a challenging research area for material scientists and engineers. In the present work, an attempt has been made to manufacture a low-cost spectrometer. The spectrometer has been designed using cardboard, DVD, a webcam and free available spectrum software named as theremino. The DVD is used as a diffraction grating and webcam as an image sensor with an overall cost of Rs 1000. This can be used as an instrument for practical demonstration for students and other research purposes for detecting pesticides level in fruits and vegetables, sensing water purity level, edible oils, etc. The spectral range can be improved by removing infrared filter integrated in webcam. The performance of the constructed spectrometer could be upgrade using effective filters and high intense low-cost lasers. This designed spectrometer will be a boon towards application in healthcare, biomedicals and food processing applications.