Open Lab Instrumentation

日常设备包含了一系列令人印象深刻的技术；非常高质量的传感器、相机和微处理器现在便宜得令人难以置信--这使得以非常低的成本建造实验室设备成为可能。这样做将在发展中国家产生很大的不同，因为它能够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。这种方法最大的挑战往往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，并了解印刷结构如何影响其强度和灵活性。这将使我们能够改进部件的打印方式，并仅使用低成本塑料创建更强大、更好的机制。然后，我们将与现成的部件一起设计、制造和测试一些光学实验室仪器，包括显微镜、光谱仪和样品制备设备。现在世界各地都有3D打印机，其工作原理是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。可以通过将多个层堆叠在一起来生成3D对象。这种逐层的方法意味着喷嘴在打印对象时所采取的准确路径强烈地影响着零件的机械性能，而正是这种影响是我们特别想要了解和控制的。一旦我们完全了解了喷嘴所采用的路径和最终部件的属性之间的关系，我们就能够创建更好的刀具路径，以使对象更坚固、更弱、更硬或更灵活-并在设计的不同部分中根据需要平衡这些属性。这种新的打印工艺将使我们能够制造出运动非常精确的部件，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有打印机的地方生产--包括在世界上许多最不发达国家。我们在坦桑尼亚的合作伙伴将进行试点，并与当地诊所、大学和学校合作，探索这些更好、更便宜的工具如何帮助改善教育和医疗保健。

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.