OPTARC PUMA User manual

PUMA Foundation Scope
User’s Manual
Document created: 03.07.2021, Last edited: 12.08.2021
Manual prepared by OptArc − Designers and
manufacturers of custom optical and
optoelectronic systems using 3D printing
rapid prototyping and based in the UK.
See optarc.co.uk for details.

Safety Information
Identification of risk
Throughout this manual please take heed of arnings given in bold text and
highlighted yello to a oid possible damage to equipment and/or harm to people.
Risk to vulnerable groups
PUMA microscopes and associated systems are not toys. They contain small parts which
may come loose such as tiny metal screws and washers and glass components that may
splinter or break or otherwise present a choking or sharp object hazard or chemical
hazard (e.g. for batteries). Please do not let babies or young children play ith or gain
access to any aspect of a PUMA system ithout close appropriate adult supervision.
Like ise keep PUMA systems a ay from pets.
Risk of damage to eyesight
When choosing and using a light source for a PUMA microscope, care must be taken to
a oid the use of or exposure to light that could damage eyesight.
In particular never allo direct or specular reflections of the sun to enter the
microscope through the illuminating mirror.
Also, never allo laser light to enter the microscope through the illuminating mirror
if any vie ing is to be done by eye (as opposed to recordings by a camera only).
ownload link for P F version of this Manual
PUMA Foundation Scope Page 2 of 40 User’s Manual v1.0
You can download the latest ersion of this User’s Manual
as a PDF file from the Support section of the OptArc
website ia this link:
https://www.optarc.co.uk/support/

Contents
Safety Information.................................................................................................................... 2
Identification of risk............................................................................................................. 2
Risk to ulnerable groups.................................................................................................... 2
Risk of damage to eyesight................................................................................................. 2
Download link for PDF ersion of this Manual.......................................................................2
Legal Information..................................................................................................................... 5
Copyright.............................................................................................................................. 5
Trade Marks.......................................................................................................................... 5
Limitations of Use................................................................................................................ 5
Disclaimer............................................................................................................................. 5
Discrepancy in Appearance of Parts...................................................................................5
Abbre iations............................................................................................................................ 6
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 7
PUMA.................................................................................................................................... 7
Foundation scope................................................................................................................. 7
Anatomy of a PUMA Foundation Scope........................................................................8
Unboxing and Initial Assembly.............................................................................................. 10
Unboxing............................................................................................................................. 10
Assembling the Microscope.............................................................................................. 13
Filter slider trays and retention collars............................................................................18
Making Obser ations............................................................................................................. 19
How to place a specimen on the stage.............................................................................19
How to focus the scope..................................................................................................... 20
Attaching a camera............................................................................................................ 20
Eyepiece Camera........................................................................................................... 21
C-Mount Camera........................................................................................................... 21
Smartphone Camera..................................................................................................... 21
Ad ice for Good Illumination................................................................................................. 22
Upgrades................................................................................................................................. 24
Higher Magnification......................................................................................................... 24
Long Legs System.............................................................................................................. 25
Abbe Condenser................................................................................................................ 26
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Köhler Illuminator.............................................................................................................. 27
Trans-Polarising Module................................................................................................... 28
Ad anced Filter block........................................................................................................ 28
Epi-illumination................................................................................................................. 28
XY Mechanical Vernier Slide Holder.................................................................................29
Trinocular Port................................................................................................................... 29
Augmented Reality (AR) Projector for Heads-up display (HUD)....................................29
Spatial Light Modulator (SLM)..........................................................................................29
Binocular Head................................................................................................................... 29
Z-Motor.............................................................................................................................. 30
Maintenance............................................................................................................................ 31
A oid excessi e heat.......................................................................................................... 31
Moisture and condensation............................................................................................... 31
Lens care............................................................................................................................. 31
Lubricating the focus mechanism....................................................................................32
Adjusting the belt tension................................................................................................. 34
Adjusting the optical axis of the optical tube..................................................................35
Disposal and Recycling.......................................................................................................... 37
Recycling of PLA Plastic in the UK....................................................................................37
Recycling of PLA Plastic outside the UK...........................................................................37
Electronics.......................................................................................................................... 37
Index........................................................................................................................................ 38
PUMA Foundation Scope Page 4 of 40 User’s Manual v1.0

Legal Information
Copyright
This user’s manual is copyright © 2021 by Dr Paul J. Tadrous. All rights reser ed.
Trade Marks
OptArc and the OptArc logo are Registered Trade Marks of Dr Paul J. Tadrous
(registered with the UK Intellectual Property Office).
Limitations of Use
The PUMA microscope and its associated systems do not ha e any certifications or
regulatory appro als in any country for use in clinical diagnostics or treatment (human
or eterinary).
The PUMA microscope and its associated systems are released to be used for research
and educational purposes only.
isclaimer
All PUMA project information, including without limitation any CAD file or STL file and
all documentation, ad ice and instruction (whether pro ided in ideo form, audible
form, written form or otherwise) is pro ided ‘as is’ in good faith and is intended to be
helpful but comes with no warranty whatsoe er.
Anyone attempting to build or use a PUMA microscope or other PUMA-related material,
accessory, module or deri ati e is hereby ad ised that there will be risk in ol ed in 3D
printing, post-print processing, assembly and usage of the resulting structures. This risk
includes, without limitation, the risk of personal damage and loss of resources.
Dr Paul J. Tadrous, TadPath and OptArc cannot accept any liability for any such loss or
damages that may occur. All those who attempt to build or use any aspect of the PUMA
project or deri ati es thereof do so at their own risk.
iscrepancy in Appearance of Parts
The parts in your package may differ in exact appearance to the parts shown in this
manual or in the associated ideos or ad ertising materials because we always ship the
latest ersions of the scope and the manual and ideos may ha e been prepared using
earlier models. Functionality of the parts you recei e will be the same or better than
those illustrated in this manual and any associated ideo or ad ertising materials.
PUMA Foundation Scope Page 5 of 40 User’s Manual v1.0

Abbreviations
Some common abbre iations used in this manual are listed below for con enience.
AR Augmented Reality
CAD Computer Aided Design
HUD Heads-up Display
IC Integrated Circuit
LED Light Emitting Diode
NA Numerical Aperture
PLA Poly-lactic acid
PUMA Portable Upgradeable Modular Affordable
QR Quick Release (mechanism for attaching the optical tube)
RMS Royal Microscopical Society
SLM Spatial Light Modulator
STL Stereolithography file (a file format for meshes)
PUMA Foundation Scope Page of 40 User’s Manual v1.0

Introduction
PUMA
PUMA is an open source 3D printed high quality customisable
microscope system. The name PUMA stands for P ortable,
U pgradeable, M odular and A ffordable – key features of this
system. To learn more about the
PUMA open source project and
to get CAD files, software and
schematics please see the
official PUMA GitHub repository:
Foundation scope
The Foundation scope is the simplest configuration of a PUMA
system that can be used as a working microscope. This
configuration is made a ailable for sale by OptArc so that people
who, for whate er reason, don’t want to build a PUMA scope from
scratch using DIY 3D printing can easily get started with PUMA.
Anyone with 3D printing and DIY abilities could also make their
own Foundation scope using the standard PUMA modules and
specifications a ailable on the GitHub page.
It is called ‘foundation’ because you can use this scope as a starting
point from which to swap in arious optional extra modules to
build any of the other PUMA configurations all the way to an
ad anced research microscope with motorised Z-stage and TFT
screens for augmented reality optical image o erlay and Fourier
optics digital light processing, binocular or trinocular iewports,
fluorescence, phase contrast, polarisation, and more.
Out of the box, the OptArc PUMA Foundation scope comes with a
high quality Plan Achromat x4 objecti e and a x10 high quality ocular
with good eye relief and a wide exit pupil for comfortable iewing.
Without further optional upgrades this scope will gi e a relati ely
low total magnification of x40 with a wide flat field of iew. With its
mirror illuminator alone this can be increased to x100 total
magnification using an optional x10 objecti e (sold separately).
If you want to use e en higher magnifications then you are ad ised to
add the PUMA Abbe condenser (this is an optional upgrade). See the
‘Upgrades’ chapter later in this manual for more complete
information about the arious upgrades a ailable.
PUMA Foundation Scope Page 7 of 40 User’s Manual v1.0
PUMA on GitHub
Foundation scope
OptArc high quality
x10 eyepiece
PUMA GitHub Page
https://github.com/TadPath/PUMA

Anatomy of a PUMA Foundation Scope
The names of arious parts of your Foundation scope are explained here. More detailed
technical specs and nomenclature are a ailable on the PUMA GitHub pages but this
information should be all you need for e eryday use of your scope and common
maintenance as well as understanding the instructions in the rest of this manual.
Note that these illustrations may differ in aspects of detail from your Foundation scope
because they were prepared with slightly earlier prototypes (for example the leg
spacers contain an extra nut on them which is not part of the spec of a modern
Foundation scope) but none of these differences in alidate the nomenclature.
PUMA Foundation Scope Page 8 of 40 User’s Manual v1.0

The terms LEFT and RIGHT refer to the user’s left and right when obser ing the
microscope from behind (which is where the primary user is most commonly expected
to be situated when making obser ations). This explains why those terms appear to be
re ersed in the front-on iew shown in the figure below.
The terms ‘stage’ and ‘baseplate’ are interchangeable. Baseplate is used more
commonly when referring to the undersurface of the stage. The term ‘Z-stage’ refers to
the whole focussing mechanism i.e. the stage/baseplate and the focus platform as
joined by the three focus post bolts with a timing belt and pulley mechanism (this
arrangement is known as the ‘tripost architecture’ of the Z-stage).
The ‘optical tube’ refers to all abo e-stage optics plus the objecti e and this fits onto
the focus platform ia a tri-helical flexure thread called the ‘quick release mechanism’
or simply the ‘QR mechanism’. This is composed of a male part (attached to the bottom
of the filter block and which contains the thread for the objecti e) which mates with a
female part that is an integral component of the focus platform.
The mirror illumination system is composed of se eral parts as shown. The mirror itself
is the glass o al mirror. This is fixed to the o al plastic ‘mirror holder’ which, in turn,
articulates with the ‘mirror suspend plain’ component. The latter component is held
against the baseplate by the ‘mirror-to-baseplate attachment’ ia two M4 thumbscrews
(illustrated in the section ‘Assembling the Microscope’ below).
There are other features present which are not described here because they are only
rele ant to scopes that ha e upgrades fitted. These will be described in any manuals or
tutorials pertaining to the fitting and use of those upgrade modules.
PUMA Foundation Scope Page 9 of 40 User’s Manual v1.0

Unboxing and Initial Assembly
Unboxing
The following describes the recommended procedure for
remo ing the contents of the box that your Foundation Scope
shipped in. This procedure was designed to protect the
sensiti e optics. An unboxing YouTube ideo has been
prepared to illustrate the following steps and can be accessed
ia the link shown.
Step 1. Ensure the box is opened from the top. Take care not to
damage the contents when opening (do not stick a knife in to cut
open the box sealing tape).
Step 2. Remo e the instruction manual and top loose packing
filler material to re eal the bubble-wraped package which
contains all the parts.
Step 3. Gently lift out the bubble-wrapped package from the box and lay it on a flat solid
work surface. Remo e the box and loose packaging filler material from the work area.
The package is enclosed in two layers of bubble wrap. Cut the tape to release the first
layer of bubble wrap. The parts will be seen – through the second, inner layer of bubble
wrap − in a ‘boat’ made from paper.
PUMA Foundation Scope Page 10 of 40 User’s Manual v1.0
Paper boat
PUMA Unboxing Video
https://youtu.be/EfecD0UGLDQ