Motorizing an Ultra-microtome Stage with a Micro-manipulator

Project Goal: Design, build and verify a motorized ultramicrotome stage to replace the manual stage adjustments with higher precision movements through automation.

An ultramicrotome uses a diamond knife to slice samples of various materials to nanoscale dimensions. The knife is located in a trough placed on the top of the upper stage. The existing design uses manual translation to align the knife with the sample at a specified distance.

The purpose of this project was to motorize the lower stage, allowing users to move the diamond knife with at least as much, if not more, precision than the existing design. The changes are expected to make the ultramicrotome even more appealing to consumers.

This new design uses stepper motors to accurately position and align the knife along both the x-axis and the y-axis. The steppers are controlled by command buttons. In addition, the controller digitally stores the specific position of the knife, making it easier for users to automatically adjust the stage to their preferred settings.