After several months of work, we have now finished the plantoscope. Here are its different fonctionnalities, and how it works.
On the left is the Raspberry Pi, the computer that controls our microscop. There is also the sensor for the camera, where we observe the planctons’ imagethrough the microscop.
On the middle one can see a syringe: this is where one put the sample, that will go through the microfluidic path. The sample is moved by a pump (the orange one on the right) and passes in front of the microscop (black, in the middle). We can move the position of the sample thanks to two step-by-step motors, so that the plancton is in focus.
The microscop is made from two lenses, with 12mm and 25mm focal lengths.
The zoom is x2, which is enough for our use, since the image is read by a sensor and not the human eye. Since the sensor has small pixels, it digitally zooms the plancton image, and one can see on the computer screen!