FABS

FABS is a program designed to run a fluorescence/absorption spectrometer on Windows. The program analyzes spectra and provides graphs and data files. Users may choose to input video files from cell phones or other cameras, still images, or even live streams of video from webcams. FABS can perform any necessary calibration and image preprocessing. Experienced users have a number of more advanced options such as background subtraction, adjustments for nonlinearities in detector response, and graph smoothing.

FABS was designed with students in mind, as a way to help high schoolers and undergraduates learn about spectroscopy without paying for expensive equipment and software. Accompanying this software is a hardware design, which can be used as a bare-bones spectrometer that will provide quantitative absorption and fluorescence emission spectra at an extremely low cost. It uses only materials that many people can find around their home.