Hi everyone,
I have been experimenting with a new way to mount the illumination. The downside is it requires an Allen key to adjust, upside is that it should be more sturdy.
Like all good OpenFlexure designs, there are of course flexures in it! In this design the illumination mount has a big slot in it:
and then the condenser has a matching shape on the back. The matching shape is slightly undersized but can be tensioned inside the slot with bolts pulling on nuts inside the condenser:
.
I have have made a little video to explain my thinking, it also shows the evolution of this design and how it failed! I would be really interested in feedback. Either here or on the merge request thread on GitLab.
I am also thinking that we can block the bottom of the channel to make the microscope more robust for travel. It can also hold more weight if we want to build bulkier, more advanced illumination schemes. I have also played with designs for holding extra optics between the condenser and the sample:
Let me know what you think!