[HN Gopher] LEGO2NANO - Open-Source Atomic Force Microscope - Wh...
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       LEGO2NANO - Open-Source Atomic Force Microscope - What Is an AFM?
        
       Author : peter_d_sherman
       Score  : 12 points
       Date   : 2021-02-05 10:06 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (web.archive.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (web.archive.org)
        
       | peter_d_sherman wrote:
       | >"How does an AFM work?
       | 
       | An AFM 'sees' objects in the same way a blind person does, by
       | feeling the surface using a long flexible stick; lumps and bumps
       | on the surface cause the stick to bend up and down, allowing you
       | to build a picture of it. An AFM is basically a scaled down
       | record player which can read any surface, not just records,
       | generating pictures instead of music. This idea may sound a bit
       | confusing, but it simply sums up the basic function of an AFM.
       | 
       | In an AFM there are a few key parts; a cantilever, a laser with
       | its optics system, a stage, a box of electronics and some
       | vibration control. By taking these components and putting them
       | together we can make a state-of-the-art microscope."
       | 
       | [...]
       | 
       | "One situation where we might consider using an AFM is when we
       | want to see features smaller than 1um. In a really good AFM you
       | can see surface atoms - yeah individual atoms -which are under a
       | nanometre (over 1000 times smaller than 1um!). Not all AFMs can
       | do this, but they can still get some big resolution improvements
       | over an optical microscope."
       | 
       | Also:
       | 
       | "What's the big idea?":
       | 
       | https://web.archive.org/web/20150826220219/http://openafm.co...
       | 
       | https://web.archive.org/web/20150826192716/https://openafm.c...
       | 
       | >"LEGO2NANO is an international student project making real
       | science accessible to young people, by developing low cost
       | scientific equipment for schools and beyond.
       | 
       | Over the last three years of the summer school in Beijing,
       | international and interdisciplinary teams of university students
       | have developed their Open AFM--an open-source atomic force
       | microscope assembled from cheap, off-the-shelf electronic
       | components, Arduino, Lego and 3D printable /laser cut parts."
       | 
       | https://www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/research/lego2nano
        
       | chmod775 wrote:
       | Wouldn't surprise me if this doesn't exist anymore beacause it
       | had "LEGO" in its name.
       | 
       | LEGO likely employs more lawyers than product people at this
       | point, and they're _really_ anal about defending their trademark,
       | because that 's pretty much all they have left.
        
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       (page generated 2021-02-06 23:00 UTC)