IBM open sources $300 fully-functional LEGO® microscope design #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi #3DPrinting

This project has it all: LEGOS, Raspberry Pi, 3D Printing and more!

Thanks for sharing Yuksel:

With a detailed instructions video, anyone can build it at home - you just need access to a 3D printer and have to buy a Raspberry Pi computer and an 8MP Raspberry Pi camera.

Article:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/hands-on/build-a-sophisticated-microscope-using-lego-3d-printing-arduinos-and-a-raspberry-pi

Video: https://youtu.be/PBSYnk9T4o4

GitHub repo: https://github.com/IBM/MicroscoPy


3055 06Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!

Build Your Own 3D Printed Open Source Motorized Microscope

I always enjoy a good 3D printed DIY project, whether it’s truly helpful or just for fun. These projects are even cooler when you add Legos into the mix, like Reddit user DIY_Maxwell did. He posted about his work using 3D printing, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and Lego bricks to make an open source, motorized microscope. But, the microscope itself is not fully 3D printed – instead, the body was built with Lego bricks and some 3D printed components. What makes this project more awesome is the stop motion-style video he made showing the various parts of the project and how they all fit together to make a working microscope.

BUILD YOUR OWN MOTORIZED MICROSCOPE using 3D-printing, Lego bricks, Arduino and Raspberry Pi… all design files, source codes and detailed instructions are provided open-source. from r/3Dprinting

“I wanted to have a modular microscope, something I can easily modify for transmitted-light, reflected-light, cross-section, etc. My early prototypes did not have Legos, as I started making my own interlocking pieces, I realized that I was in fact printing lego-like designs, I thought buying legos would be less of an effort,” he wrote on Reddit when asked why he didn’t 3D print all the parts. “Then I found out about these “sliding” lego pieces, which are very precise for linear actuators. The other advantage is that, if I want to change the height of the camera let’s say, I simply add more bricks, it’s convenient.”

DIY_maxwell used FreeCAD to design the 3D printed microscope parts, which were fabricated on an Ender 3 system. All of the source codes and design files have been provided open source on GitHub, along with detailed step-by-step instructions on how to make your own.

Before you jump right in, do you know what exactly a motorized microscope does when compared to a regular microscope? DIY_maxwell explained that, at least for him, it needed to be able to tilt in order to take photos, from an angle, of “highly reflective surfaces (semiconductor chips),” and that it should quickly adjust the focus and magnification, and position of the sample.

“The microscope has a simple operation principle based on changing the magnification and the focus by adjusting the relative distances between a camera, a single objective lens and a sample. Briefly, two linear stages with stepper motors are used to adjust these distances for a continuous and wide magnification range,” the GitHub instructions state. “Four additional stepper motors tilt the camera module and change the X-Y position and rotation of the sample. A uniform light source illuminates the sample either from an angle (reflected light) or from the bottom of the sample (transmitted light).”

The main components of this modular, motorized microscope include a Raspberry Pi system, an 8 MegaPixel camera, six stepper motors, a keyboard or joystick for variable speed control, uniform illumination, and obviously plenty of Lego bricks. Depending on the specific features and electronics vendors used, the whole thing costs between $200-$400, and once you have all the parts in front of you, should only take a couple of hours to assemble.

The main body was built with individually-purchased Lego bricks, and DIY_maxwell designed custom actuators and 3D printed them, rather than using available motors and gears from LEGO Technic.

“This approach not only lowered the cost of the microscope but also gave me some flexibility in the design and implementation of precise linear and rotary actuators. In principle, the whole structure could be 3D-printed without using any LEGO parts but that would be less modular and more time consuming,” he writes in GitHub.

In addition, 3D printing offers you the flexibility of quickly changing the design for maximum optimization if and when it’s needed.

“If the parts do not match well, some minor modification in the original design file (e.g. enlarging the holes matching to LEGO studs) or polishing/drilling may be required,” he explained.

The contents of the motorized microscope are as follows:

  • Linear Actuators
  • Camera Module
  • Rotary Stage
  • Illumination
  • Tilt Mechanism
  • Electronics
  • Final Assembly
  • Software

You can find detailed instructions, images, slicer settings, tips, and more on GitHub, and a longer version of the assembly video can be viewed here.

Several other Reddit users who routinely use microscopes related how impressed they were about the project; a geologist mentioned that “starting price can be anywhere between $500 to $1000 for something with that kind of quality” when DIY_maxwell said that his microscope could “easily resolve 10um features.” A pathologist expressed excitement about “a modular system to motorize common non motorized microscopes (Leica, Olympus, etc.).” While the compliment was appreciated by the maker, it was noted that “this microscope is not meant to replace a lab microscope used for medical assessment. No dark-field, no fluorescence, no aperture control, it suffers from chromatic aberration and other optical effects at high magnification, etc.”

“I hope this prototype persuades other DIY-enthusiasts to develop new designs of microscopes.”

If you’re interested in using 3D printing to make your own microscope, you can check out all of the relevant information on GitHub to build this one, or check out the OpenFlexture Microscope project on Wikifactory. This was created as “part of the Waterscope initiative, which by allowing for fast and affordable on-site bacterial testing of the water quality in developing regions of the world, is helping to cope with the diseases caused by bad quality water drinking.”

OpenFlexure Microscope

The OpenFlexure can be built in the classroom and used as an education tool for both students and teachers. Because the 3D printed microscope stage uses plastic flexures, the motion is free from friction and vibration, and the four-bar linkages in the stage can be 3D printed in a single job with no support material.

You can find other open source 3D printable microscopes on Thingiverse as well; happy making!

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.

The post Build Your Own 3D Printed Open Source Motorized Microscope appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

LEGO’s IP Grab Bag #beyondthebrick by @mweinberg2D

Myminifactory-Beyond-The-Brick-Competition.

Lego’s IP Grab Bag by Michael Weinberg

Lego recently sent a series of takedowns to websites that host 3D printable models, including MyMiniFactory.* It looks like some of Lego’s claims are legitimate, while others appear to be less so. Taken together, the claims highlight the complicated ways in which IP attaches to 3D printable models, and the ways in which various legal ambiguities can allow a large company like Lego to try and control behavior that is probably not legally within its right to control.

Read more.

Modular Button Base (LEGO Technic Compatible) #3DPrinting #3DThursday

6d8b360bc26562f73dcb5728dff37271 preview featured 1

aguzinski shared this project on Thingiverse!

LEGO Technic compatible modular base for 12mm push buttons. Can be used to with a Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Makey Makey, etc.

3, 4, and 6-button pieces are included, but can combined together. I included two 4-button varieties. The tight fit version works better as a D-pad if you are using as a simple controller.

I printed without supports. This produces a few rough patches in out-of-the-way areas, so if that matters to you, they can be added.

See more!


649-1
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

New Products 6/5/19 Featuring SPIDriver by Excamera Labs! #adafruit @Adafruit #newproducts

Browse through all that’s new here!


NEW PRODUCTS THIS WEEK


Mini Oval Speaker with Short Wires – 8 Ohm 1 Watt: Hear the good news! This wee speaker is a great addition to any audio project where you need 8 ohm impedance and 1W or less of power. We particularly like this speaker as it is small and comes with nice skinny wires with a connector on the end. It has a handy “Molex PicoBlade” 1.25mm pitch 2-pin cable, which makes plugging into a board easy. Or you can cut off the connector and just solder/clamp onto the wires directly.

Read more


Lithium Ion Polymer Battery with Short Cable – 3.7V 350mAh: Lithium ion polymer (also known as ‘lipo’ or ‘lipoly’) batteries are thin, light and powerful. The output ranges from 4.2V when completely charged to 3.7V. This battery has a capacity of 350mAh for a total of about 1.3 Wh.

Read more


Lithium Ion Polymer Battery with Short Cable – 3.7V 420mAh: Lithium ion polymer (also known as ‘lipo’ or ‘lipoly’) batteries are thin, light and powerful. The output ranges from 4.2V when completely charged to 3.7V. This battery has a capacity of 420mAh for a total of about 1.55 Wh

Read more


Micro Servo Arm and Horn Set: If you bought a servo from us you probably got a bunch of plastic add-ons that you can snap onto the rotating part of the servo. These are called ‘servo horns’. For many robotics projects you’ll end up drilling or gluing to the horns to attach it to your armatures. But maybe you messed up, or you want to recycle the expensive motor part? This product comes with just the horns! No servo is included, so you can reuse the motors you’ve got.

Read more


Standard Servo Arm and Horn Set – 25 Spline: If you bought a servo from us you probably got a bunch of plastic add-ons that you can snap onto the rotating part of the servo. These are called ‘servo horns’. For many robotics projects you’ll end up drilling or gluing to the horns to attach it to your armatures. But maybe you messed up, or you want to recycle the expensive motor part? This product comes with just the horns! No servo is included, so you can reuse the motors you’ve got.

They mate with 25-tooth servo axles. We’ve found they’re compatible with our standard-size servo motors

Read more


Brass Heat-Set Inserts for Plastic – M3 x 4mm – 50 pack: Wanna improve the connection strength between your project’s 3D-printed parts, and also have nice clean surfaces? Instead of gluing bits together, or screwing plastic screws directly into your 3D prints, use strong and reusable machine screws and heat-set inserts. Heat set inserts are only a few cents a piece and have a grooved outside, with threads on the inside. Originally they were designed for injection molded parts but they work fabulously for 3D printed plastic as well.

Read more


Brass Heat-Set Inserts for Plastic – M3 x 3mm – 50 pack: You could use a plain soldering iron to try to heat-press these in – Heat up the iron and use it to press the insert in, wait for it to cool, then use like a hex nut that’s embedded inside the plastic. We strongly recommend our heat-set insert tool for soldering irons because it’s really hard to insert them straight otherwise and you risk damaging your print!

Read more


Plastic Micro Servo Adapter for LEGO Cross – 16mm long: Who doesn’t love LEGO and compatible bricks? Nobody! Except when we accidentally step on them. There are soooo many mechanical things one can make with those ubiquitous bricks, plates, gears, pulleys. Say a 13-meter high LEGO London Tower Bridge…

But what do you do when you want to add LEGO-compatible bricks and parts to your servo arms and horns? This is the adapter you need! Just push the axle housing end onto the shaft of your Micro Servo, and it’s ready to adapt to the standard LEGO-compatible cross axle parts, including gears and wheels. So easy, we think this will enable many creative endeavors.

Comes 1 x per order – fits our Micro Servo only! Not guaranteed to fit with any other kind of servo splines, and definitely doesn’t fit our standard servos.

Read more


2CDriver by Excamera Labs: I²CDriver is an easy-to-use, open source tool for controlling I²C devices and a great tool to help with quick driver development and debugging. It works with Windows, Mac, and Linux, and has a built-in color screen that shows a live “dashboard” of all the I²C activity. It uses a standard FTDI USB serial chip to talk to the PC, so no special drivers need to be installed. The board includes a separate 3.3 V supply with voltage and current monitoring. It’s kinda like a Bus Pirate with a display and great Python support.

Read more


SPIDriver by Excamera Labs: SPIDriver is an easy-to-use tool for controlling SPI devices and a great tool to help with quick driver development and debugging. It works with Windows, Mac, and Linux, and has a built-in color screen that shows a live logic-analyzer display of all SPI traffic. It uses a standard FTDI USB serial chip to talk to the PC, so no special drivers need to be installed. The board includes 3.3 and 5 V supplies with voltage and current monitoring. It’s kinda like a Bus Pirate with a display and great Python support.

Read more


New Products 6/5/19 Featuring SPIDriver by Excamera Labs! #adafruit

Stay in the loop at Adafruit.com/New!

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LEGO Saturn V Rocket Wall Mount #3DThursday #3DPrinting

56ed108014fe6dc484723dd09edbcc03 preview featured

Shared by noble69 on Thingiverse:

Print two of the right piece if you don’t want the LED part. Print two of the LED trays with clear PETG. Uses 2 inch dry wall screws to mount to wall. Super glue the LED trays into the center mounts. Center Mount accepts a 10mm 12v jack.

Download the files and learn more


649-1
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!