The parallel advances in the development of open-source microcontrollers and small low-cost computers have permitted the motorization and automation of such parts. An optimal solution is one that provides students with imagery of microscope-comparable quality over the entire area of a slide.Īdvances in 3D printing, and in particular the high-tolerances required for the fine spatial scales required for microscopy, have allowed for the creation of customizable designs that permit the fabrication of microscope parts. While these solutions provided avenues to permit learning continuity, they have not provided an adequate bridge linking students' pre-pandemic experiences with the new online paradigm. Strategies employed by instructors to overcome these difficulties included: (1) the rewriting of laboratory courses in order to utilize the limited collection of free online microscopy resources, (2) expensive commercial microscopy solutions, (3) the ad-hoc collection of new microscopic imagery by either film scanners with limited optical resolution or laborious manual image collection. Shared facilities, such as microscope laboratories, were acutely affected as the sudden pivot to online-only instruction prevented access to these tools. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced a re-evaluation of how to deliver traditionally in-person formal and informal laboratory instruction. The system is low-cost and utilizes widely available components making it universally accessible to any institution with an existing microscope. We have found that the images permit an experience comparable to using a microscope and have the additional benefit of allowing students to examine, not only the field of view permitted in a microscope but an entire sample at once. The PiAutoStage system can be attached to almost any microscope and is capable of automatically imaging an entire microscopic sample by combining hundreds of collected images into a single panorama. Our solution is an open-source device that combines a 3D-printed mechanism, to move a sample around the microscope, and an integrated camera that are both controlled by a central, inexpensive computer. We have developed an accessible solution for creating and delivering microscopic educational materials to students. While there are abundant resources for the digital delivery of 3-dimensional images of rock specimens, there are limited avenues to deliver microscopic materials to students in a manner that approximates the in-person experience. The instruction of Earth science courses often relies upon the observation of in-hand specimens which poses a significant barrier to delivering courses in an online format. The low cost of the PiAutoStage system, combined with the data-efficient mechanisms of online delivery make this system an important tool in promoting the universal accessibility of high-resolution microscope imagery. We discuss strategies for the online delivery of these large-sized images in a data efficient manner through the application of tiled imagery and open-source Java-based web viewers. We furthermore establish the broad adaptability of the PiAutoStage system by attaching it to a reflected light stereo dissection microscope to capture images of microfossils. We have shown that the PiAutoStage is compatible with microscopes that do not currently have a camera attachment by using two different optical trains within the same microscope: one set of imagery collected through the photography tube of a trinocular microscope, and a second set through a camera mounted to an ocular. We have demonstrated the utility of the PiAutoStage when attached to a transmitted light microscope by creating high-fidelity image stacks of rock specimens in plane polarized and cross-polarized light. The PiAutoStage automatically captures the entire area of a microscope slide in a series of overlapping high-resolution images, which can then be stitched into a single panoramic image. The PiAutoStage was developed to interface with the high-quality optics of existing microscopes by creating an adaptable system that can be used in conjunction with a range of microscope configurations. We have created an open-source 3D printable microscope automatic stage and integrated camera system capable of providing a means for imaging microscope slides-the PiAutoStage.
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