Open Lab Instrumentation

开放实验室仪器

• 批准号: EP/P029426/1
• 负责人: Jeremy Baumberg
• 金额: $ 104.61万
• 依托单位: University of Cambridge
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2017 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FP029426%2F1
• 关键词: Open; Lab; Instrumentation

Everyday gadgets contain an impressive range of technology; very high quality sensors, cameras, and microprocessors are now incredibly cheap - making it possible to build lab equipment very cheaply. Doing this would make a big difference in developing countries, as it enables better screening for diseases like malaria or TB, and makes it possible to study science in the lab as well as in theory. The biggest challenge with this approach is often mounting the different parts together: good quality mechanical mounts are very expensive. We will measure and develop micro-mechanical properties of printed plastic parts, and understand how the structure of the prints affects their strength and flexibility. This will allow us to improve the way parts are printed, and create stronger, better mechanisms using only low-cost plastic. Together with readily available parts, we will then design, build and test a number of optical lab instruments, including microscopes, spectrometers, and sample preparation equipment.The 3D printers that are now found all over the world work by extruding plastic through a hot nozzle, and drawing shapes by moving the nozzle over a print bed. 3D objects can be made by stacking multiple layers on top of each other. This layer-by-layer approach means that the exact path taken by the nozzle as it prints the object strongly affects the mechanical properties of the part, and it is this effect that we particularly want to understand and control. Once we have fully understood the relationship between the path taken by the nozzle and the properties of the final part, we will be able to create much better toolpaths to make objects that are stronger, weaker, stiffer or more flexible - and to balance these properties as we need them in different parts of a design. This new printing process will allow us to create parts that move very precisely, which is a crucial part of building precision instruments such as microscopes, spectrometers, and more. These instruments can be produced anywhere with a printer - including in many of the least developed countries in the world. Our partners in Tanzania will pilot this, and work with local clinics, universities and schools to explore how these better, cheaper instruments can help improve education and healthcare.

日常的小工具包含了一系列令人印象深刻的技术;非常高质量的传感器，摄像头和微处理器现在非常便宜-使得可以非常便宜地制造实验室设备。这样做将在发展中国家产生重大影响，因为它可以更好地筛查疟疾或结核病等疾病，并使在实验室和理论上研究科学成为可能。这种方法的最大挑战通常是将不同的部件安装在一起：高质量的机械安装非常昂贵。我们将测量和开发印刷塑料部件的微观机械性能，并了解印刷品的结构如何影响其强度和柔韧性。这将使我们能够改进零件的打印方式，并仅使用低成本塑料创建更强大，更好的机制。然后，我们将设计、制造和测试一系列光学实验室仪器，包括显微镜、光谱仪和样品制备设备。现在世界各地都可以看到的3D打印机通过热喷嘴挤出塑料，并通过在打印床上移动喷嘴来绘制形状。3D物体可以通过将多个层堆叠在彼此之上来制作。这种逐层的方法意味着喷嘴在打印物体时所采取的确切路径会强烈影响零件的机械性能，而我们特别想要了解和控制的正是这种效果。一旦我们完全理解了喷嘴所走的路径与最终零件的属性之间的关系，我们将能够创建更好的刀具路径，以制造更强、更弱、更硬或更灵活的物体-并根据我们在设计的不同部分中的需要平衡这些属性。这种新的印刷工艺将使我们能够制造出移动非常精确的部件，这是制造精密仪器（如显微镜、光谱仪等）的关键部分。这些仪器可以在任何地方用打印机生产，包括世界上许多最不发达国家。我们在坦桑尼亚的合作伙伴将对此进行试点，并与当地诊所、大学和学校合作，探索这些更好、更便宜的仪器如何帮助改善教育和医疗保健。

项目成果

Hot electron science in plasmonics and catalysis: what we argue about.

等离激元和催化中的热门电子科学：我们争论的内容。

• DOI: 10.17863/cam.38548
• 发表时间: 2019
• 作者: Baumberg J

Combining development, capacity building and responsible innovation in GCRF-funded medical technology research.

• DOI: 10.1111/dewb.12340
• 发表时间: 2022-12
• 期刊: Developing world bioethics
• 影响因子: 2.2
• 作者: Bezuidenhout L;Stirling J;Sanga VL;Nyakyi PT;Mwakajinga GA;Bowman R
• 通讯作者: Bowman R

Reality science

现实科学

• DOI: 10.1088/2058-7058/31/6/37
• 发表时间: 2018
• 期刊: Physics World
• 影响因子: 0.6
• 作者: Baumberg J