tatefleming / 4-axis-micromanipulator-stage

Four axis micromanipulator stage for research

4-axis-micromanipulator-stage

Background: This repository contains information of a project I worked on during my research at Appalachian State University under Dr. Francois Amet. The research consists of superconductivity in graphene and other novel 2-D materials. The microscopic devices used in our research are initially assembled under an optical microscope on a multiaxis stage. Graphene devices can be created in open air because they do not oxidize very quickly. Niobium diselenide (NbSe2) oxidizes rather quickly and requires a vacuum glove box for device assembly in our research. The glove box maintains a better vacuum when the gloves are used as little as possible, so the goal of this project was to create a four-axis micromanipulator stage that could be controlled by a computer rather than manually.

Materials used:

• Four-axis stage
• Stepper motors (4) *used Model: 42BYGHM809
• Big Easy Driver (4) *or 1 driver and multiplex the motors or shift register
• Arduino Mega *could possibly use Uno if you multiplex the motors with one driver
• Current supply *used 12V 10A DC supply at ~2A
• flexible coupling for the motors to the micrometers

Optional materials used:

• DB32 male connector
• DB32 female connector
• Enclosure for the arduino and drivers
• Metal plate to secure the motors
• Vibration absorbing legs for the metal plate

Software:

• Arduino
• Python *or Processing (started with Processing and converted to Python about halfway through)

Arduino Libraries:

• Firmata

Python Libraries:

• TKinter
• PyFirmata
• Time

Additional Notes: An executable file can be created from the py file using pyinstaller.

• Install pyinstaller using "pip install pyinstaller"
• Navigate to the directory of the py file
• Use "pyinstaller --onefile filename.py"