Cheap webcam into USB microscope (DIY)

[Diegojavbau]

I need to re-shape and polish my needle , so I build a USB microscope with a cheap webcam to help me to polish and sharpen the needle again.
This could be very useful for some of you people so I show you how

This is the webcam and the leds that I will use


Taking apart the camera


Cut the cap (lens) of the led to make the light more smooth and wide

The camera use 5v , so one 100ohms resistor is soldered to every led.
An acrylic disc is made to work as a light diffuser and focus adjustment , glued to the lens


The original plastic ring is used to make a led holder (cant be attached to the plastic ring because is a movile piece)


Light ring test


Diffuser disc test


A soda cap is used as spacer (fits perfect)


All glued together


A plastic paint can cap is used as a main body of the microscope


Model finished


How my needle look with the bare eye


How I see it with the DIY microscope



I try to make it simple and short , any information that you need fell free to ask me here .

 

[jacksparrow]

That is one very poorly looking needle, hope you get it fixed.
Great tutorial, very informative!!

 

[Squishy]

Very clever! That needle is definitely looking sorry for itself !

 

[flycatchr]

thats awesome Diego, I did something similar a few years back and took this pic :


of course mine was a whole lot easier, All I did was take of the front lens of the webcam and stick it on my homemade (I prefer handcrafted :beguiled: ) astronomical telescope, which you use to focus the image.

SO - my question - how did you focus your image for the microscope?

 

[Madbrush]

Diego you should be ashamed owning such a ridiculous needle, that is just airbrushing blasphemy,

But you are forgiven because your little creation is awesome, I will be pressing the Mods and sending threatening letters to Mitch until they make you our "Official Resident Forum Macgyver",

Excellent initiative.

 

[KarosLajos]

What a great tool!

 

[WhiteKnight]

Very nice

 

[HCP-draggin]

Wow. Obviously your creativity doesn't end with art work. Very cool. Although my ignorance of all things electronic means I'd just be wrecking a perfectly good webcam if I tried that. . I can change batteries, and splice wires. Although even splicing wires can be risky on my part... When I'd take pics of my polished needles or nozzles, I set up my "little" point 'n' shoot camera on a small, cheap tripod from Walmart, put it in "close up" mode, set the timer for 5 seconds, and hold a magnifying glass in front of the camera. 1 out of every 5 to 10 tries, you'll actually get a decent pic. My "standard" was that I knew the needle was polished enough when the camera could no longer get it in focus. . (btw- I think your needle needs a bit of TLC ;-)

 

[Diegojavbau]

Yes , the needle is a mess , but I don't notice that until see it magnified , I just see it short and I thought that was broken

@flycatchr : turning the acrylic disc is the way to adjust the focus

 

[flycatchr]

aha, and the acrylic disk is attached to the lens and the lens being close to the ccd chip makes it a microscope?

 

[Diegojavbau]

aha, and the acrylic disk is attached to the lens and the lens being close to the ccd chip makes it a microscope?

The focus of the webcam can be regulated by turning the lens (is mounted in some kind of screw), changing the distance between the ccd and the lens ( most or all of the webcams use this sistem)
What make it a microscope is the capability of the webcam to make focus on zero distance (you can focus even touching the lens) , this way you can make extreme macro images

 

[flycatchr]

The focus of the webcam can be regulated by turning the lens (is mounted in some kind of screw), changing the distance between the ccd and the lens ( most or all of the webcams use this sistem)
What make it a microscope is the capability of the webcam to make focus on zero distance (you can focus even touching the lens) , this way you can make extreme macro images

sounds brilliant