Glover Lab 3D print repository

May 9, 2023 | Community Call to Action, In the Community, Open Source Resource, OpenBehavior Team Update

The Glover Lab at the University of Illinois in Chicago has made available a 3D print repository that includes designs for operant behavior applications, as well as mounts and holders/stands for cameras (like their recently published Pi USB Cam system), Nanoject, and other devices used in neuroscience research.

3D modeling with printability in mind is crucial for successful objects, and these prints clearly show the importance of this matter. The OpenBehavior project validated the designs shared by the Glover Lab. The instructions & recommendations provided by the authors for every printable device/component are clear and concise, resulting in good-quality prints. 

We invite you to check out and download their work, as well as the other designs that have been shared by other members of the community, for example in our OpenBehavior 3D print repository. Most importantly, we invite you to contribute your own designs so that we can work together to improve research possibilities and productivity using low-cost and open-source designs.

In September 2021, we launched an effort to collect designs for 3D printed objects used in neuroscience research. By the end of 2021, the blog post about this project had collected the second most page views on our website, just a few hundred page views behind the most viewed project, the UCLA Miniscope. The post averaged more than 14 views per day over the next three months. Yet, we have been able to collect designs from just 12 research groups. These experiences suggest that there is major interest among the community in 3D printing, but most people do not have designs that they are able to share. We hope to address this issue in the coming year, including through posts here and on Twitter and through workshops , such as this one before the SfN meeting in Washington, DC this November.

If you wish to share designs for 3D printed objects, please complete a form at this LINK. You can upload your design or let us know where the files are on the internet, and we will get them into the repository. Thanks!