OpenFlexure Low-Cost Microscope v7 - Assembly Process - MEng Mechatronic Engineering FYP

Hi Folks,

Just a quick message to all building the v7 Openflexure Low-cost Microscope, I have made this video to help anyone struggling with it. please check it out and read the description and leave any feedback on how I can improve it in the future. this may help with some of the other versions of the microscopes.
Currently, I am writing my dissertation on this project for my degree, so if I don’t reply it is because I am focused on that.

Regards

Breandan.

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@BRENDY77 that is a nice video. It is really helpful to have some more on the software side as well as the hardware. The images of samples at the end are not as clear as I would have expected. There could be two reasons for that. Did you use the lens spacer from the V7.0.0-Beta release? There is a known problem with the lens mount in that part, which is noted in the bugs post on Openflexure Microscope V7.0.0-beta1 released. With the part released in the Beta, the lens is not fixed at the right distance or the correct angle, it will be about right but the angle offset causes poor image quality. You can actually see the problem in the cut-away image on the instructions Assemble the basic optics module, in the right-hand cutaway render, where the inner support does not reach the lens https://build.openflexure.org/openflexure-microscope/v7.0.0-beta1/renders/low_cost_optics_assembly_pi_lens.png.
The second cause could be that the lens is placed the wrong way round in the lens spacer (shown at 1:50 in the video). The side that was facing the camera should be outwards, which is the side without the cross-shaped moulding. In normal use the object is a long distance away, and the image is formed on the camera sensor very close to the lens. This asymmetrical imaging means that the lens is not symmetrical internally. In the microscope it is the sample that is close to the lens (~1mm) and the camera sensor is relatively far from the lens (17mm is not very far, but still much further than 1mm).

Hi, William,

Thank you so much for the Reply, the lens was an oversight.
Thank you for catching that, I actually compensated that 17mm by using multiple glass slides to get the right focus so I think you are correct. I hope the video has helped in some way at all.
I’ll make sure to amend the video when I have time.

Regards

Breandan.