Support & citation¶

pydvma is free and open for everyone. Every feature — the browser app, the local hardware bridge, the analysis core, modal fitting, export — is available to all users under the BSD 3-Clause licence. Nothing is gated, and nothing ever will be behind a paywall.

The project is developed at the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering and maintained largely on goodwill. If pydvma is useful to you or your institution, here are a few light-touch ways to help it keep going. All of them are optional.

1. Cite it¶

If pydvma supports your teaching or research, a citation is the single most valuable thing you can do — it is how an academic tool earns the recognition that keeps it funded and maintained.

CitationBibTeX

Butlin, T. (2026). pydvma: a Python package for dynamics and vibration measurement and analysis (version 2.0.0). University of Cambridge, Department of Engineering. https://github.com/torebutlin/pydvma

@software{pydvma,
  author    = {Butlin, Tore},
  title     = {{pydvma: a Python package for dynamics and
               vibration measurement and analysis}},
  version   = {2.1.0},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {University of Cambridge, Department of Engineering},
  doi       = {10.5281/zenodo.21888383},
  url       = {https://github.com/torebutlin/pydvma}
}

The repository also carries a CITATION.cff file, so GitHub's "Cite this repository" button and most reference managers (Zotero, etc.) can import the citation for you.

Permanent DOI

Releases are archived on Zenodo. The concept DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21888383 always resolves to the latest version and is the most robust thing to cite; each release also carries its own version DOI (v2.1.0: 10.5281/zenodo.21888384).

2. Institutional support¶

If your department or institution relies on pydvma in a course or a research group and would like to support its continued development, we would love to hear from you. A formal institutional-supporter route is being set up; in the meantime the best first step is simply to get in touch:

tb267@cam.ac.uk — Tore Butlin, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge.

There is no payment mechanism today, and support is never required to use any part of pydvma. This is just an open door for institutions that want to help.

3. Tell us how you use it (the zero-cost option)¶

Even if a citation or funding is not on the table, hearing where and how pydvma is being used is genuinely useful — it helps us prioritise what to build and makes the case for keeping the project supported. A one-line email, a mention that you use it in a particular course, or a note about a research paper it contributed to all count.

You are also always welcome to open an issue or a discussion on GitHub, or contribute directly — see the contributing guide.

Thank you for using pydvma.