{
  "abstract": "The rapid growth of low-cost and open-source spectrophotometers has created a need for systematic methodologies to evaluate and compare alternative instrument architectures. This study presents a comparative assessment of three representative open-source spectrophotometric platforms, encompassing discrete multispectral sensing and continuous-spectrum imaging approaches. Their performance was evaluated against a commercial Thermo Scientific Genesys 30 spectrophotometer in terms of spectral agreement, portability, implementation complexity, and cost. The results demonstrate that no single architecture is universally optimal; instead, each presents distinct trade-offs that determine its suitability for specific applications. Multispectral sensor-based systems offer compact, low-power solutions for field deployment, whereas imaging-based platforms provide spectral performance closer to laboratory-grade instrumentation. All hardware designs, firmware, and software developed in this work are released as open-source resources to support reproducibility and further development. The study highlights the importance of matching instrument architecture to application requirements and proposes a practical framework for the evaluation and selection of low-cost spectrophotometers, facilitating the adoption of open-source analytical tools for water quality monitoring and related applications.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.09180",
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Alex M. Rivera-Rivera"
    },
    {
      "name": "Daniela Martinez-Ortiz"
    },
    {
      "name": "François Quitin"
    },
    {
      "name": "Denis Terwagne"
    },
    {
      "name": "Stamatios C. Nicolis"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ernesto Altshuler"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alexandre Campo"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/32gr7m88f712q.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.09180",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "32gr7m88f712q",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.09180",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.app-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.ins-det"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.optics"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2311|Water Quality Monitoring and Analysis"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221010035",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.09180",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-06",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/32gr7m88f712q.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:27:37Z",
      "native_id": "2610.09180",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.09180"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.app-ph",
      "subfield": "applied-instrumentation"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.optics",
      "subfield": "optics-photonics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Low-Cost Spectrophotometers: A Comparative Evaluation of Open-Source Architectures",
  "title_text": "Low-Cost Spectrophotometers: A Comparative Evaluation of Open-Source Architectures",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:27:37Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/32gr7m88f712q",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}