Development of a Motorized Approach Mechanism of Microscopic Camera for Laboratory Flasks

The paper deals with the development and design of a motorized approach mechanism of a microscopic camera for laboratory flasks. The work discusses both the design and software aspects and their application in laboratory practice. The design aspect of the work consisted of selecting and constructing a suitable mechanism capable of fully automated focusing of the microscopic camera on the observed samples. For this purpose, was chosen, an electric stepper motor driver combined with a threaded rod. This mechanism, together with the designed components, converts the rotational motion of the motor and threaded rod into linear motion. The design aspect of the work also includes the design and manufacturing of the overall device and all its components. As a control unit a joystick was chosen for this case, which, in conjunction with an Arduino microcontroller, appropriately connects the designed mechanism and thus achieves the desired goal of the work. The software aspect consists of creating program code in the Arduino IDE environment, which defines and, from an electronic perspective, ensures the individual predefined options for the movement of the mechanism. To achieve focusing, two rotation speeds of the mechanism are defined in the code.