Building a high-res OpenFlexure Upright Microscope (v7.0.0-beta2) using parts from IO Rodeo kit

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As a follow-up to our recent build, I am considering purchasing a second OpenFlexure Microscope v7 kit from Rodeostat (Kit + 40x objective + 12.7mm achromatic lens + RPi 4B + RPi power supply), and then adapting it to the upright microscope version. I’m trying to make sure we’ll have all the needed hardware before the student starts to build it.

I ran diffchecker between low-cost and upright BoMs as well as high-res vs. upright and low-cost vs. high-res.

What I’m seeing is:

  • Heatgun
  • Soldering iron and solder
  • Wire strippers
  • An extra 2 pin Du Pont connector female housing
  • A 150 ohm resistor
  • 300 mm Pi camera ribbon cable (instead of 200 mm)
  • 40 mm of Black heatshrink - 4.8mm ID
  • 1 Black pre-crimped Female-Female jumper cable (30 cm)
  • 35 mm of Red heatshrink - 2.4mm ID
  • 1 Red pre-crimped Female-Female jumper cable (30 cm)
  • 1 extra M3 brass nut
  • 5 extra M3 nut
  • 6 extra M3x10 cap head screws
  • 2 extra No 2 6.5mm self tapping screws
  • 1 extra Viton O-ring (30mmx2mm) - "Viton band"

I also did a diffchecker for high-res vs. upright 3D printed parts.

It looks like:

  • Separate z-actuator: separate_z_actuator.stl - The smart brim may require custom print settings.
  • Condenser arm: condenser.stl
  • Upright z-actuator mount: upright_z_actuator_mount.stl
  • 4 feet: upright_feet.stl
  • 4 large gears: upright_large_gears.stl
  • Upright condenser: upright_condenser.stl - The condenser may require custom print settings as used for the smart brim.
  • Upright condenser platform: upright_condenser_platform.stl
  • Lens spacer: lens_spacer_picamera_2_pilens.stl - This must be printed in black! info
  • Illumination thumbscrew: illumination_thumbscrew.stl
  • pi camera platform: camera_platform_picamera_2_pilens.stl

Does this seem correct?

Aside: we also have all the parts (I think) for two reflection Delta Stage Microscopes - hopefully will build those soon!

related: Freshly assembled upright microscope v7.0.0-beta1

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The raw differences are not particularly helpful there. Most of the things in the first list are about the differences between the custom PCB illumination and the LED work-around. This is an error in the instructions as the upright condenser now uses the LED PCB by default. I shall make a Gitlab issue for that.
The longer Pi Camera cable is necessary. 300mm is just enough for the low cost upright, you will probably need 400 or 450mm for the high resolution upright as the camera is further up. There is some discussion of the best cable lengths in Gitlab issue #323.
The extra nuts, screws etc should be correct.

In the second list the lens spacer and camera platform are there because the upright assumes a low-cost optics module. Either version of the optics module can be used for upright or inverted.
The main parts you need extra for the upright are the separate z-actuator, the z-actuator mount, and the upright condenser with its platform. Three of the feet and gears will be the same, but you need a fourth for the extra z-axis (and additional z-type foot, and additional gears.
The normal condenser arm and its illumination thumbscrew are then not needed on the upright.
The upright_z_actuator_mount.stl is designed for a sample thickness of 1mm - a thin sample on the top of a microscope slide. For thicker samples the z-axis adjustment may not be enough to get to focus so there are alternative taller mounts in the full STL download linked in the customisations.

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