01. FreedomScope Assembly Guide
Welcome to the FeedomScope Assembly Guide. Follow the steps below to insert the lenses and filters into the microscope housing, to construct your microscope.
Before you start, make sure you have everything on the Parts List and have printed out the all the necessary 3D Printed Parts
Microscope Assembly Guide:
Assembly Note 1: Due to the softness of the printed housing compared to the lenses and filters, it is common that inserting these components scrapes solid material into the light path. Care should be taken that this debris is removed with compressed air or tweezers before sealing the microscope body
Assembly Note 2: The filters should be secured with clear, non-fluorescent dental acrylic, or with Formlabs black 3D printed resin, cured with a 405nm laser pointer.
While the choice of CMOS is flexible, We prefer using the MC900A- pictured below:
We also use the mezzapede connectors to link microscopes to wireless backpacks and to flex or test cables. Here is an image of what they look like:
Looking from the top down, the CMOS should be wired as follows:
Once the female connector is soldered onto the CMOS, increase the support by adding hot glue underneath the connector and the CMOS.
the left outer-most pin is reserved for a secondary component control, like a second LED ( for multichannel imaging), accelerometer, pressure sensor, or other custom components.
Test Cables link the DAQ Box to the Microscope. In principle, these can be used as tethers for awake, behaving animals. It is often practical to have several, robust test cables ready at the bench for quick testing of microscopes.
In songbirds, we use small custom flex cables from the active commutators. Active Commutators