Hey Microscopists,
I thought I’d share this project real quick in case some of you find it as useful as we have: GitHub - Llamero/30mm_cage_plate_LED_MCPCB: LED mount that is compatible with the Thorlabs 30 mm cage plate
This is a four channel LED array on a Thorlabs 30 mm cage plate. The on-board LED driver chip can drive LEDs at up to three amps, for high power applications.
These LEDs are closely spaced to allow for efficient coupling into a 5 mm LLG or other optics, and all the components are less than 6 mm tall so that a high NA condenser lens can be used to collect the light efficiently.
This close-spaced arrangement coupled almost twice the light as a traditional set of four single LEDs combined with dichroic mirrors. So it proved to be both brighter and a LOT cheaper.
Additionally, this project also has a controller board that allows for up to three boards to be controlled for a combined total of 12 LEDs in a single system.
The controller board is powered by a Teensy 4.1 for high temporal precision, and also includes a GUI for both manually controlling the LEDs as well as accessing preset programmable modes that sync to the four protected digital inputs on the board.
The controller board itself can also be controlled via its potentiometers to adjust LED current and pushbuttons with LED indicators to select the LED channel.
I hope to get a full documentation for the software out this winter, but if anyone would like to build one in the interim, I would be more than happy to help them out. For specialized tools, you really only need some forceps to place components and a hotplate to reflow the solder, so no special skills or tools are required.
Cheers,
Ben Smith