Community Microscope Kit
community-microscope

Using simple materials, we’ve developed a microscope kit you can build yourself - the result of many teams’ work coming together! Read more about the [Community Microscope here,](http://kck.st/2GlkY5K). If you're new to the Public Lab Community, sign up below to post questions, share research notes, and get updates. If you're already on Public Lab, use the button below to subscribe to all things #community-microscope Sign Up Follow **** ## Assembling Your Community Microscope #### 1. Get a Community Microscope You can find the materials needed to build a community microscope on the assembly pages below, or purchase one from the [Public Lab Store](https://store.publiclab.org/collections/featured-kits/products/microscope?variant=8179759612011)! #### 2. Assemble the Microscope Base: For step-by-step instructions on how to assemble your microscope, [click here](https://publiclab.org/notes/mimiss/09-05-2019/community-microscope-stage-assembly-instructions). #### 3. Set Up Your Microscope [Click here](https://publiclab.org/notes/bronwen/05-07-2018/microscope-webcam-conversion) for instructions to assemble the [Intro Kit](https://store.publiclab.org/collections/prototyping-kits/products/microscope?variant=8179759612011) [Click here](https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/10-24-2018/add-a-high-quality-webcam-to-your-community-microscope-kit) for instructions to assemble the [Plus Kit](https://store.publiclab.org/collections/microscopes/products/copy-of-community-microscope-intro-kit?variant=13912032837741) [Click here](https://publiclab.org/notes/bronwen/11-29-2018/assembling-the-raspberry-pi-microscope) for instructions to assemble the [Pi Kit](https://store.publiclab.org/collections/microscopes/products/community-microscope-pi-kit) [Click here](https://publiclab.org/notes/warren/10-16-2019/build-a-low-magnification-dissection-microscope-for-microplastics) for instructions to assemble the [Intro Kit](https://store.publiclab.org/collections/microscopes/products/community-microscope-pi-kit) as a **dissecting scope** for #microplastics. **** ## Activities There is so much that you can do with your microscope! Learn more about what the Public Lab Community is doing with their community microscopes below. [![Screen_Shot_2019-08-05_at_12.53.17_PM.png](/i/35134)](/i/35134?s=o) ### Using Your Microscope Check out these activities to get started using your microscope. [notes:activity:starter-community-microscope] Our community members have done even more cool stuff, [which you can see here](https://publiclab.org/tag/activity:microscope) ### Lesson Plans Public Lab tools, like the community microscope, can be used in educational settings. Educators at Public Lab have created these materials to get you started using the Community Microscope Kit. [You can learn more about Public Lab's Education initiative here.](https://publiclab.org/wiki/education) [notes:lesson-community-microscope] ### Workshops Science is better together! Here are some examples of how the community microscope has been used in a workshop setting. Check these out and share your own! [notes:workshop-community-microscope] **** ## Frequently Asked Questions Check out these questions and answer's from our community to get you started! [questions:FAQ-community-microscope] Want to see more questions from our community? [See more questions about the Community Microscope here](https://publiclab.org/questions/tag/community-microscope). **** ##Media [![sketch.jpg](/i/35133)](/i/35133?s=o) Looking for photos of the community microscope to share? [Visit this Wiki](http://publiclab.org/wiki/micro-photos) to see photos or share your own. ****...


Author Comment Last activity Moderation
KathleenRobinson "wao good to see these type of spy camera " | Read more » almost 5 years ago
warren "Oh awesome! " | Read more » almost 5 years ago
SadiePrego "Hey no problem! I actually made one myself which works pretty well - no tape needed, here's the file: Webcam_lens_adapter_v2.stl " | Read more » almost 5 years ago
warren "Oh sorry! I misunderstood! Here, i've added that too now, but note that I believe I just found a standard m12 on thingiverse and resized it. So the..." | Read more » almost 5 years ago
SadiePrego "Hey @warren the .stl file doesn't look like the 3D printed adapter in ur picture (screenshot below), it looks like it might be the adapter for the ..." | Read more » almost 5 years ago
SadiePrego "thank u @warren! Going to try it out, unfortunately are makerbot doesnt take gcode which is a lil surprising but I guess cause its a newer model " | Read more » almost 5 years ago
delhinsim "It's wow! https://www.nsim.in/digital-marketing-course-in-dubai/ " | Read more » almost 5 years ago
warren "It's this one! https://github.com/publiclab/community-microscope/blob/master/lens-adapter.stl " | Read more » almost 5 years ago
warren "Oh gosh, well it's not super nice, and i think we may literally just have crudely stretched them to make gcode, but, the original is here: https://..." | Read more » almost 5 years ago
SadiePrego "@bronwen @warren is there any chance these files exist as STL? Thanks! " | Read more » almost 5 years ago
Bronwen "I just noticed this great post from @MicroscopesAreCool -- the microscope above is about half way between the laser lens microscope in their post a..." | Read more » almost 5 years ago
Bronwen " Oh, awesome! And it looks like you assembled it with just two stages, I hadn't thought about that, but it looks like it works! " | Read more » almost 5 years ago
warren " " | Read more » almost 5 years ago
ethanivys00 "Wonderful blog! I found it while browsing on Yahoo News Regards= office.com/setup " | Read more » almost 5 years ago
Bronwen "You can see a PDF of my cut file and a few more notes here: TabletMicroscopeNotes.pdf " | Read more » almost 5 years ago
Bronwen " No lighting effects-- the look of the sample shifts a lot depending on the angle/distance/brightness of the light-- the photo of the sediment at t..." | Read more » almost 5 years ago
liz "amazing the colors in the seaweed in that first picture! No special lights or filters, huh? " | Read more » almost 5 years ago
Bronwen " Hi- I was able to make this work a year ago, but haven't tried since more recent updates (I think I was running 7.1 the last time I was connecting..." | Read more » almost 5 years ago
Bronwen " Oh, wow, I totally missed the mark, that's even cooler. " | Read more » almost 5 years ago
warren "Although, "tell these apart" may also be a relative term. When you see the light or dark regions, you dont see the pits themselves but rather diffe..." | Read more » almost 5 years ago
warren "And to answer a question above, I /think/ this would put all "long" pits in the 1 regions, and all "short" pits in the 0 regions. So, you'd have to..." | Read more » almost 5 years ago
warren "Oh, actually this technique doesn't use a laser cutter - it forms an image by copying data onto the DVD at differing densities, so that the actual ..." | Read more » almost 5 years ago
Bronwen " You know what, forget what I said about kerf width-- I'm used to the range I listed, but I'm finding some charts for lasers that makes it seem lik..." | Read more » almost 5 years ago
Bronwen "Oh cool, this is a super interesting question. I think this would be tricky to do at the scale that our calibration slides currently have (the rul..." | Read more » almost 5 years ago