They provide a kit with various options. I opted for the high resolution version. I was thrilled to put microscope together. This is an exceptional instrument in my opinion Thank you!!!
I think the build went very well. I’m grateful for your excellent built instructions.
Some things I learned that may be of help to others.
My hdmi and usb cables did not insert well into the electronics drawer causing intermittent issues with the RPi booting and/or displaying. I filed out these areas to add clearance and had no further issues. It also may be worthwhile to verify your camera and light source are working before you install them. These can be verified before installing the electronics or the optics into the microscope.
There are various versions of the sanga board. Pre-read and follow instructions for the one you are using carefully. I think the build instructions i followed had images of an older version, and I got confused on where to plug in the light source, and learned the firmware is installed on the v0.5.4 board. There are directions on the forum for reloading firmware without a compiler.
It may be of value to wait on installation of the gear motors after you have successfully put a slide on the microscope and manually focused and adjusted. You may want to manually set the x, y, and z screws somewhere near mid range as well. Kind of establishes a “zero” point before going through the calibration section.
I have some learning to do for starters. Being able to view and photograph the microscopic world at this quality is a great place to start. I’m an analytical chemist, and this instrument seems to have a lot of potential there too.
I love IO Rodeo’s kit for the high resolution microscope (OpenFlexure Microscope Kit – IO Rodeo)! I have built 3 of them so far. A medical student I am working with built the 4th. Of the total 5 I have built, the IO Rodeo’s kit had the best prints.
We are using them scanning cervical biopsies for digital pathology, and they work great!
Such beautiful OFMs! @KayH_medpath do you happen to know what kind of filament is used for the white parts especially? I used Prusament PLA, white with pearl sheen (yes, I want my OFM to look fancy too ), printed all parts on my PrusaMini and learned the hard way that white filament is quite fragile. Had to print the main stand 3 times because I broke it when mounting the o-rings each time
Brittle prints are usually not about the base colour. Moisture in the filament will make prints brittle. There are also reports on this forum that satin/pearl filament tends to give brittle prints.
To the moisture point, people often assume that a brand new vacuum-packed filament will be dry, but in reality part of the manufacturing process involves cooling it through a water bath, and it’s then spooled and packed.
That little desiccant pack they include with it has a lot of work to do! So it’s always worth considering drying your filament once you’ve opened the packet, particularly if you’re printing something functional like this.
), printed all parts on my PrusaMini and learned the hard way that white filament is quite fragile. Had to print the main stand 3 times because I broke it when mounting the o-rings each time 