This Nanoscope was built during a 5 day LEGO workshop, LEGO and Makeblock allowed for some rapid building but some custom 3D printed parts were also needed. It can sense very small structures and scan them in.
“The microscope they constructed is built upon a metal base, with housings built from Lego and the various component holders 3D-printed to ensure a perfect fit betweenĂ‚Â the Lego to the component. The scanning stage is inspired by research from Bristol University and is also 3D-printed. Piezo actuators, components that move when an electric field is applied (or vice versa), were the most expensive part, taking up about half of the entire microscope’s cost. When 10V is applied, the Arduino-controlled actuators move the scanning stage by just a single micron, allowing for incredible scanning resolution.”