The Working Scientist's Toolkit

The working scientist's toolkit.
Open source.
Starting at $0.

Precision hardware and practical software for behavioral research. Published schematics, open source code, fair pricing. No black boxes, no vendor lock-in, no IT department required.

See the hardware → See the software
1000Hz
Sampling Rate
1ms response latency Universal HID design Plug-n-play with any mouse-supporting task software
~$30
BOM Cost
MCU + USB: ~$8 Switches + caps: ~$12 PCB + passives: ~$6 Enclosure: ~$4 (FDM)
100%
Open Source
Inspect the code Modify the design Contribute to the project
0
Black Boxes
Complete transparency Open design, open code
The Hardware
Basic Science Gear response box — 4-button USB-C device

The BSG Response Box

A millisecond-precision button box for behavioral research. Built on proven microcontroller architecture with firmware designed for deterministic timing. No proprietary drivers. No vendor lock-in.

We publish everything: 3D-printable enclosure files, complete bill of materials, MCU firmware source, and assembly documentation. Build it yourself, improve it, fork it, teach with it.

Build your own: $0 + parts (BOM coming soon)   |   Buy assembled: ~$200
⬡

3D Print Files

STL and STEP files for the enclosure. Print on any standard FDM printer.

⊞

Bill of Materials

Every component listed with sourcing links and estimated costs.

⟨/⟩

Firmware

PlatformIO-ready source. Flash it, read it, improve it.

⎙

Assembly Guide

Step-by-step build documentation from bare PCB to working device.

Why this exists

You shouldn't need a Federal grant just to buy a button box.

The components inside a typical response box cost a few dollars. The engineering is well understood. The timing requirements are documented in open literature. Yet somehow, the price tag is five figures and the schematics are a trade secret.

Research tools should be transparent by default.

When you can see how your equipment works, you can trust your data. When you can modify your tools, you can adapt them to your actual research questions instead of reshaping your science around someone else's product decisions.

◇

Transparent Engineering

Every schematic, every line of firmware, published and readable. No black boxes.

◈

Fair Pricing

Components cost what components cost. We don't charge for mystique.

◆

Zero Lock-in

Build it yourself, modify it, fork it. Your tools, your data, your call.

Designed in a lab, not a boardroom.
The Software

The hardware gets you the data. What happens next is where vendor lock-in actually lives: per-seat experiment software, subscription-based EMA platforms, data pipelines that require a dedicated server, IT approval to install, and a support ticket to cancel. We build the software side of the toolkit the same way we build the hardware: open source, local-first, no subscriptions, no black boxes.

v1.0 — testpypi

Basic Data Tool

BDT

Your data pipeline shouldn't require an IT department.

A local, browser-based application for the "last mile" of behavioral research data: merging files, filtering by demographics or phenotype, cleaning, QA, and exporting analysis-ready datasets. Powered by DuckDB for SQL-speed processing of your CSVs, with no server to install or maintain.

Merge & Filter Pull variables from multiple CSVs. Filter by site, demographics, phenotype. Participant count updates in real time.
Audit Trail Every filtering step documented automatically. Know exactly how you got from raw N to final sample.
Built-in Stats Scatter, histogram, violin plots with on-demand OLS, ANOVA, t-tests, and normality checks. Sanity-check your data before you leave the tool.
closed beta

Mdedit

WYSIWYG MARKDOWN EDITOR

Markdown that actually exports.

A standalone, cross-platform WYSIWYG editor for researchers who live in markdown: README drafts, LLM outputs, methods sections, documentation. Write once, export to whatever format your collaborators demand.

WYSIWYG Editing Write in markdown, see rendered output in real time. No split-pane juggling.
Export Anywhere One click to PDF, HTML, or .docx. Stop pasting into Word at the end of every project.
Free, Open Source No account, no subscription, no server. Runs natively on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
Codename

Project Cylon

Project Cylon

Something's in the lab.

Don't want to build it yourself?

We'll have fully assembled and tested units available soon. Each one is built, calibrated, and validated by the same lab that designed it.

Drop your email and we'll let you know when assembled units are ready to ship.

What's next

The button box is just the start.

We're building a working scientist's toolkit: open, affordable hardware and software for behavioral research.

Hardware

Response Box

Millisecond-precision button box. Open source files available now. Assembled units coming soon.

Eye-Tracking Goggles

Mobile-first stimulus delivery with integrated eye tracking. Phone-based, field-ready, no lab required. Prototype in testing.

Integrated Digital Hardware

Purpose-built devices for multimodal behavioral assessment. Designs in progress.

Software

Basic Data Tool

Local data management for the last mile: merge, filter, QA, and export with a complete audit trail. No server, no IT department.

Mdedit

Standalone, cross-platform WYSIWYG markdown editor with one-click export to PDF, HTML, or .docx. Free and open source.

Project Cylon

Something's in the lab.