Build a DIY Electric Microscope Using LEGO and Raspberry Pi

LEGO is truly a source of joy for adults. Not only can it unleash creativity in building favorite houses and structures, but it also aids in the creation of precision instruments, making it a favorite among countless geeks!

Previously, we reported on someone who built a parts sorting machine with LEGO, eliminating the hassle of categorizing LEGO pieces. This time, we discovered another LEGO enthusiast, Yuksel Temiz, a researcher at IBM Zurich, who DIY-ed a high-precision electric microscope using LEGO, Arduino (an open-source electronic prototyping platform), and Raspberry Pi (a credit card-sized computer) to capture images of microfluidic chips from various angles!

This is a perfect blend of work and hobby, and it’s impressive. Netizens commented: “Even if I watched it, I wouldn’t know how to do it, and if I tried, it would be a failure.”

Yuksel’s choice to DIY the microscope was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

On one hand, IBM Zurich has a tradition of discovering microscopes. In 1981, Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer invented the scanning tunneling microscope here.

As a DIY enthusiast, Yuksel naturally did not want to fall behind, so he followed the tradition of his research institute, hoping to create a modular electric microscope worth $300.

Moreover, Yuksel indeed needed a custom microscope for his research, as capturing images of microfluidic chips was exceedingly challenging!

Because chips are generally large, standard microscopes cannot capture the entirety, yet Yuksel’s research group needed a standard microscope to discern fine features that ordinary cameras cannot resolve.

Yuksel also researched papers from other research groups, and it was evident that everyone faced this challenge: the need for a more refined instrument capable of multi-angle imaging of chips.

With this goal in mind, Yuksel carved out some free time to redesign a multifunctional laboratory instrument that could capture macro photos from almost any angle.

Illustration: James Provost

The design of the imaging microscope utilized a large amount of technology and materials, including LEGO for the main structural components and 3D-printed gears and frames to drive its moving parts. Precision movement is achieved by stepper motors driven by a motor driver board and controlled by an Arduino board. The Raspberry Pi Zero and Pi camera module are used for image capture.

The initial design included custom control boards and parts printed on high-resolution printers, but before public release, the microscope was redesigned to be assembled with off-the-shelf boards and components that can be printed on lower-cost low-resolution printers.

Yuksel’s first prototype is a Raspberry Pi camera module mounted on a platform, utilizing a linear stepper motor from an old CD drive for movement in three-dimensional space. The Raspberry Pi camera is an ideal choice as it allows manual adjustment of key parameters such as ISO settings and exposure time.

IEEE Spectrum documented Yuksel’s process of repeated adjustments during production.

Yuksel first carefully removed the plastic casing that secured the lens, exposing the CMOS image sensor, and designed a clever mechanism to move the lens back and forth, allowing for high-magnification macro photography. This device worked well for a time, but it was fragile. Yuksel accidentally broke the lens mechanism several times and damaged the image sensor by inadvertently moving the components beyond their limits.

Thus, he decided to take another approach: completely remove the lens from the Pi camera; then, take the objective lens from a low-cost USB microscope and mount it on another CD linear drive, allowing the objective lens to move back and forth along the optical axis of the Pi camera; and finally use LEGO to create a casing to protect the exposed sensor of the camera.

However, the result of this attempt was that, aside from the high price of the linear module used in the microscope, there were no results. The travel distance of the CD drive was too short, still unable to achieve a wide magnification range.

Subsequently, Yuksel switched to a lead screw mechanism used in 3D printers. He did not use the commonly used 8mm diameter screws, shafts, and bearings, but instead used 3mm diameter components to ensure the compactness of the device. Additionally, moving the objective lens would cause stray light issues, so he decided to replace it with a moving camera sensor.

He built a platform that allowed the subject to move and rotate along the x-axis and y-axis. Ultimately, six micro stepper motors with gearboxes were used to move the platform, tilt the microscope, adjust its distance to the object, and focus the image.

Illustration: James Provost

The angle is perfect!

Because chips are usually made of highly reflective or transparent materials, evenly lighting the chips is also key.

The LEGO microscope can place samples under uniform illumination provided by an LED backlight module. The sample can move back and forth, sideways, and can also rotate to find the desired angle. The microscope body can tilt up and down, and its distance and focal length to the sample can be adjusted to provide different levels of magnification [bottom]. By moving the lensless camera module within the LEGO casing, the focal length can be adjusted by changing its distance from the bottom of the casing.

Yuksel mentioned that he often designs his own Arduino control boards for compact devices. This time, he designed a control board measuring 18×18mm, using an ATtiny84 microcontroller and a DRV8834 stepper motor driver. The image quality under this configuration is surprisingly good, capturing beautiful images of chips and checking micron-level features, even serving as a digital goniometer to measure contact angles.

Initially, this project was aimed at a specific need, but Yuksel clearly realized that it could be a multifunctional photography system that anyone could assemble and use at home or school.

Yuksel’s leaders at IBM supported him in making the assembly instructions public, which is like doing charity. With just LEGO, a 3D printer, and Raspberry Pi, a microscope for scientific research can be made, saving a significant amount of research funding.

However, when he began preparing the instructions, he was troubled by several issues.

He built the device using a state-of-the-art 3D printer and a fully equipped mechanical workshop. Moreover, the small stepper motors used are expensive and not readily available in general hobby electronics stores. Programming the ATtiny84 with a dedicated ISP programmer is certainly not as easy as programming a commercial Arduino control board with a USB interface.

Therefore, Yuksel returned to the drawing board and redesigned everything using readily available components, such as using Adafruit’s Arduino control board and stepper motor drivers, as well as 28BYJ-48 stepper motors, which can be found anywhere for just a few dollars. He also replaced the LED matrix light source with a more easily homemade and lower-cost version.

Afterwards, he bought an LED backlight module from Adafruit for $3, along with a high-power LED. The intensity is slightly lower than the original LED matrix, but the uniformity is still quite good for both reflected and transmitted light microscopy. For the new linear actuator, Yuksel combined LEGO’s “sliding” pieces with the rack and gear linkage designed using FreeCAD’s gear toolbox, and printed it with his personal Creality Ender 3 printer. The new design performed just as well as the previous one, if not better.

The instructions were written on Github, and interested students can check it out~

Github link:https://github.com/IBM/MicroscoPy

This device could potentially be improved in many ways, and Yuksel hopes that this prototype can inspire others to try new and better ideas.

So, can it replace laboratory microscopes? Perhaps not, but this microscope provides a great solution for schools with limited funding, which is why the assembly instructions are open-source, as we hope to make it easy for everyone to access and enjoy.

Yuksel’s IBM homepage:

https://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/view.php?person=zurich-YTE

Related reports:

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