Team Members
Hugh Brittenham, Alexander Davis, Alexander Hadid, Eric Lee, Cyril Moran, Ami Patel, Brett Winter
Abstract
The focus of Zebra Team Six’s design is to create a mounting system and other piece parts for a Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy set-up that is affordable, accessible, and interchangeable with labs across the country. As well as to create a broad spectrum of custom magnetic mounts that are not only cheaper than the currently available off-the-shelf components, but also much simpler to utilize and rearrange to accommodate any experimentation needs. A focus for the design was to create an optically transparent and easily accessible imaging chamber capable of partial disassembly to comply with the University of Florida’s sterilization processes. Additionally, both chamber, sample holder and mounts are specifically designed for ease of assembly and manufacturing for a 100-unit product run, such that users who do not have expertise in optics related fields can easily make use of this product. The two materials that were selected, Acrylic and PP Copolymer, were done so based upon their compatibility with both the customer needs and the system, as well as their relative cost to make a profitable system. Overall, the team’s system design provides both effective Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy subsystems, as well as a new method of mounting seeking to streamline the future of breadboard lab table set-ups.