Tired? Ethan has some #ESPressoscope for you🔬☕️! Perhaps the smallest&cheapest fully automated microscope to observe living organisms in incubators, creatures underwater, or ticks in the field. It uses the #ESP32 Camera and...that’s it. Curious? a 🧵1/n

wanted a device to capture microfluidic chips – but compact and cheap. Easy! Just take the ESP32 camera, and unthread the lens. Done. But what if we could use the internal LED as a bright field source. And perhaps add a motor for the pump? 2/n

When I joined @prakashlab, we got curious if we could build a device that can capture the growth of biofilm in marine ecosystems. Easy, let’s just put the #ESP32 Cam in a watertight container and see what happens.. The #anglerfish was born ℹ️: 3/n

@PrakashLab The #Anglerfish is an @SeeedStudioXiao Sense-driven autonomous microscope with autofocus that can capture images on an SD card periodically – underwater. It works (also) well with @openUC2 4/n

@PrakashLab @OpenUc2 Removing the lens and adding a „pinholed“ LED creates a very simple inline holographic microscope for refocusing your sample after you‘re done with the experiment. ℹ️: and recover inside your browser: 5/n

@PrakashLab @OpenUc2 Adding a grating and the nozzle of your printer as the entrance slit creates the #espectrometer. Retrieve frames in the browser and learn why white are actually not really white.. ℹ️: 6/n

@PrakashLab @OpenUc2 Documentation is key! A @docusaurus-based webpage enables you to build the different #ESPressoscope's, but also lets you install the firmware on the microcontroller without additional tools. WebSerialinterface may be the future of #ZeroCost4MCU.. ℹ️: 7/n

@PrakashLab @OpenUc2 @docusaurus A fully web-based interface for timelapse acquisition, controlling illumination, and (auto) focus (optional) helps you get the right image. If not, @ImJoy and @imweio get you covered with ImageJ.js ℹ️: 7/n

@PrakashLab @OpenUc2 @docusaurus @imjoy @imweio This tool was clearly not built to resolve #betterthanalens (@Leibniz_IPHT), but to engage with the community. The #matchboxscope has been built&improved by hundreds of people around the world. Share your story or ideas! It‘s a community project! 8/n

@PrakashLab @OpenUc2 @docusaurus @imjoy @imweio @Leibniz_IPHT But wait, there is one more thing. What if we had not only one but a whole array of these little @seeedstudio cameras? #WIP for #opensource high-throughput microscopy for everyone #staytuned 9/n

@PrakashLab @OpenUc2 @docusaurus @imjoy @imweio @Leibniz_IPHT @seeedstudio And what if we had a little benchtop injection molding machine that recycles all the failed prints into widely available #matchboxscopes? If not, no problem! Our @prusa3d printers run 24/7 to get you served! :) 10/n

@PrakashLab @OpenUc2 @docusaurus @imjoy @imweio @Leibniz_IPHT @seeedstudio @Prusa3D This was/is a really fun project! We learned a lot about how important it is to document every little detail. It's not perfect, but it's a microscope! We are curious to hear from you how you would/will use or use it already. Share this and your story and let#S make #MicroscOPEn🙃