Devices

The Ender Ecosystem: Transforming 3D Printers into Open Hardware Lab Robots

The Creality Ender 3 is more than a printer; it is a reliable, calibrated, and low-cost motion platform. we have developed several modifications to transform this €150 machine into high-performance laboratory equipment:

Ender 3 Syringe Pump (Baas & Saggiomo, 2021): By adding just three off-the-shelf parts, the printer becomes a programmable, multi-channel syringe pump set. Controlled via simple G-code, it reaches stable flows down to a few µL/min, providing a professional setup for a fraction of the cost of commercial alternatives.

HistoEnder (Ponzetti et al., 2022): An automated microscope slide stainer designed to save thousands of working hours in histology and pathology labs. It is modular, reversible, and costs less than €200, making automation accessible for labs that cannot justify the €2,000–€10,000 price tag of traditional stainers.

EnderScope (Collaboration with Mark Pickering, Dublin, Ireland) (Burke et al., 2024): By replacing the hotend with an optics module, the Ender 3 is transformed into an automated scanning microscope. Capable of both reflected light and fluorescence imaging, it can scan large areas (>20 × 20 cm) to detect and count microplastics in environmental samples.

And some Reviews / Perspectives:

A 3D Printer in the lab: Not only a toy (Saggiomo, 2022)

Open hardware is at the heart of device research (Saggiomo, 2023)

Hacking 3D printers as laboratory robots (Baas et al., 2025)

Creating an open-source hardware ecosystem for research and sustainable development (white paper) (Faez et al., 2023)

And my TEDx “Open Science for Inclusive Science”