CREATING AN OPTIMAL TEAR CRYSTALLISATION ENVIRONMENT
THE PROCESS & CREATION OF THE DIY MICROSCOPE CLIMATE CHAMBER & CLIMATE CONTROL UNIT.
In order to get better and more consistent results for the project Imaginarium of tears, it’s important to standardise the evaporation and crystallisation process of tear fluids. To do this, I would need to create a enviromental chamber around the microscope, and a control unit to control the temperature and humidity within that climate chamber at preset values.
With the experiments done for the Tear Collection Kit, data tells me that the optimal temperature and humidity of such a climate chamber would be around 12° Celsius and 40% humidity.
To do this I would need to upgrade the microscope by building my own DIY enviromental chamber and a climate control unit.
Knowing that the microscope had an optional incubator mentioned in its original manual, I went on the internet to see if I could buy the old incubator. Unfortunately as I expected, finding only the casing and or the control box was not easy. Setups where only sold together with the microscope, making it too expensive to justify. Other options like a 3rd party manufacturer where not supporting this microscope or where also just to dam expensive.
The Climate Chamber:
With the information available form the manual and images from the internet, I decided to design the Climate Chamber myself. Below you can see the preview of the enviromental chamber, designed by measuring the specific parts of the microscope insuring a snug fit. Tho I did make some adjustments when it came to the “original incubator” design.
Things that where adjusted :
- Brackets to connect to the microscope.
- Smaller casing, shorter on the left and right side.
- Placement and type of manipulator doors, no hinges but sliding doors.
- In and outtake exhaust to later connect the climate control unit.
- Use of “connectors” in the corners. No glue needed, everything is build modulair with nuts and bolts. This is an important design change, due to traveling everything needs to be easily disassembled into a flatpack.
The idea is to 3D print all of the black parts using my Ultimaker 2+, 3D printer. All transparent parts will be made out of 5mm Plexiglas, and laser cut to achieve high accuracy and quality.
You would almost say “Why not build a big case around the microscope? “
In the next months I will be further investigating and developing the actual hardware that will help me to control the temperature and humidity within the enviromental chamber.
Support Imaginarium of Tears:
Turn your own tears into a unique tangible work of art with the Tear Collection Kit:
More information about the project:
Did you miss the previous blogs of “Imaginarium of Tears” ? Or do you want to know more about the project?
If you enjoyed reading this, please click “Recommend” below.
This will help to share the story with others.
