Science in Progress: Making a Foldscope

5 thoughts on “Science in Progress: Making a Foldscope”

1. Could this be improved through 3-D printing?

   Nice review of this cardboard microscope, it’s simple but important devices like this that save lives in developing countries and emergency situations.

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2. I was thinking about it – its hard to have the extensibility a microscope usually requires with a 3D printed structure. Lots of moving parts – doable, but not necessarily portable.

   Hackaday covered something like this early last year: https://hackaday.com/2017/02/17/this-3d-printed-microscope-bends-for-50nm-precision/

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3. The HackADay item is pretty cool, but not as compact as this cardboard unit.

   Oh, I was thinking just gutting the cardboard unit, and making the slide carrier and lens holders as part of a phone case. Going all out though, hum?

   Maybe a setup where the lens holder, slide carrier, and a phone connection had hard points that could hold a LED and battery (thinking, thinking, use the back side of the phone case as a small solar panel to charge a capacitor for the LED)

   Sorry, brainstorming.

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4. Just to say, the website is http://www.foldscope.com (and not http://www.foldascope.com as you might think). Looks a great thing!

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5. Great tip. I will give these out to my students. Thanks

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