THIS OPEN-SOURCE CONTROLLER MAKES A DIY ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE SCAN 100 TIMES FASTER
A sub-1,000-dollar controller that turns a simplified AFM kit into a high-speed atomic force microscope — the whole system costs under 4,000 dollars and images skin cells in under 10 seconds.
by Hsien-Shun Liao, Imtisal Akhtar, Roman Slipets, Jorge Pereda, Ellen Raun, Laura Olga Norgaard, Frederikke Elisabet Dons, Edwin En Te Hwu, Christian Werner, Jen-Hung Wang
ScienceOpen-hardware
- difficulty
- ●●●●●
- time
- several weekends
- license
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- repo
- repo FINISHED0 stars
●●●●● · several weekends · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 0 stars · repo FINISHED
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
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COMPAREE VERDICT
This is a research instrument build that brings high-speed AFM imaging within reach of a university lab: the paper puts the whole system at 3,963 dollars, while commercial video-rate AFMs cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The controller, an NI myRIO-1900 running open-source LabVIEW code plus a small op-amp buffer board, raises the scan rate of the Strømlingo DIY AFM from Strømlinet Nano from 0.6 to 55 lines per second, nearly 100 times faster, producing a 512 by 512 pixel image in 9.3 seconds. The team used it to measure human skin corneocyte nanotexture for atopic dermatitis scoring. The buffer circuit design, LabVIEW source, a compiled exe, the paper's images and several how-to videos are open. Notably, it scans in constant-height mode with a manual probe approach, so no feedback-loop tuning is needed. What will be hard: you need the Strømlingo kit and its anti-vibration table first, plus enough AFM know-how to align the laser on the cantilever and calibrate the scanner on a DVD track sample. It is not a weekend electronics project. For a postgrad or research engineer who needs high-speed AFM on a fixed budget, it is exactly what it claims to be.
IN THE REPO
GOOD TO KNOW
- —Buffer circuit files, LabVIEW source, a compiled exe, figures and videos are on OSF (CC BY-SA 4.0) with a copy on Mendeley Data (CC BY 4.0); the BOM is a table in the paper.
- —The paper includes full hardware schematics, software architecture and build instructions.
- —Requires a Stromlinet Nano simplified AFM kit as the base platform — you are building the controller, not the microscope itself.
- —The LabVIEW control software is open-source (source and exe); a YouTube demo by co-author Edwin Hwu shows it scanning at 55 lines per second live.
- —This is a research instrument build — expect to debug, calibrate and iterate before matching the published scan rates.
- —Hardware design files are CC BY-SA 4.0 (commercial use allowed, share-alike applies); the Mendeley data copy is CC BY 4.0.
Parts to buy
3 itemsFrom our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.
Can I build this?
Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.
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Start here
Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.
- 1.Read the HardwareX paper end to end (The paper is your assembly manual: buffer circuit, wiring to the AFM scanner, software architecture, step-by-step operation and the DVD calibration procedure.)
- 2.Download the design files and data from Mendeley (The buffer circuit diagram and PCB, the LabVIEW source code, the compiled exe, the paper's images and the how-to videos are here under CC BY 4.0 (the same files are on OSF under CC BY-SA 4.0). The BOM is in the paper itself.)
- 3.Source the Stromlinet Nano AFM kit(This controller is designed for the Strømlingo DIY AFM from Strømlinet Nano; you cannot skip this step. The paper's BOM lists 2,999 dollars for the kit plus 199 dollars for its anti-vibration table.)
- 4.Build the buffer circuit and connect the NI myRIO-1900 per the schematics(The only custom electronics is a small op-amp buffer board that boosts the myRIO's scan signals; check noise and wiring carefully at this speed.)
Resources
Documentation, files and community threads for this build — we link straight to the original sources and never rehost the creator’s files.
KNOWN ISSUES
- You must own or buy a Stromlinet Nano simplified AFM kit — the controller has no microscope hardware of its own. Budget for that first.
- Calibration is part of the build. The paper calibrates the scan area and Z sensitivity by imaging the data tracks of a rewritable DVD (740 nm period, 160 nm depth), and there is a dedicated calibration video on OSF. Budget time to get this right before trusting any measurements.
- To use it as published you install the compiled AFM.exe; to change anything you need LabVIEW with its FPGA module, since the myRIO's FPGA is programmed in LabVIEW. There is no feedback loop to tune: it images in constant-height mode with a manual probe approach.
- AFM probes are consumables and must be replaced. Budget for a probe supply and calibration time.
- Vibration isolation is not optional at these scan speeds. A wobbly desk will waste weeks of your life.
- The control software is LabVIEW-based: a compiled exe is provided, but changing scan behaviour means owning a LabVIEW licence and editing the source.
Can I build this without the Stromlinet Nano kit?
No. The controller is designed specifically for the Stromlinet Nano's mechanics and probe stage. You need that kit first.
What FPGA board did they use?
A National Instruments myRIO-1900 (about 700 dollars), using its built-in FPGA and analog I/O, programmed in LabVIEW. The only extra electronics is an op-amp buffer board.
How long does calibration take?
The paper does not give a time. Calibration means imaging a piece of rewritable DVD with known 740 nm track spacing to set the scan area and Z sensitivity, and there is a video of the process on OSF. Laser focusing and manual probe approach also take practice; there is no feedback loop to tune.
Can I use this for materials other than skin cells?
Yes — it is a general-purpose high-speed AFM controller. The skin-texture scoring is one application; any sample the Stromlinet Nano can reach is fair game.
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Discussion1
FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM
55 lines per second, 9.3 seconds for a full image — nearly 100x faster than the base kit. If you had access to high-speed AFM at this price, what would you image first?
Hsien-Shun Liao, Imtisal Akhtar, Roman Slipets, Jorge Pereda, Ellen Raun, Laura Olga Norgaard, Frederikke Elisabet Dons, Edwin En Te Hwu, Christian Werner, Jen-Hung Wang
A collaboration between National Taiwan University, Technical University of Denmark, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (Germany) and Technical University of Munich. The team built the controller to enable low-cost quantitative imaging of human skin corneocyte nanotexture for atopic dermatitis severity scoring — a clinical application that commercial high-speed AFMs price out of most dermatology labs.
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DISCLAIMER
- Comparee is not the author of the projects featured here. All rights to each project belong to its creator — every page links to the original source, and we never host creators’ files.
- Information is provided without warranty and may become outdated as projects evolve. Prices are indicative bands only — always check the creator’s parts list for current costs.
- Building and operating any project is at your own responsibility. Protective equipment, safe workshop practice and compliance with local regulations are the builder’s responsibility.
CompareeTEAM1mo agoedited
Practical notes from our verification: the HardwareX paper is unusually complete — buffer circuit design, BOM, open-source LabVIEW code (source and a compiled exe) and several videos are published on OSF under CC BY-SA 4.0, and a copy of the data is also on Mendeley. The controller itself is an NI myRIO-1900 plus a small op-amp buffer circuit; there is no custom FPGA board, and no GitHub repository or project website. A YouTube demo by co-author Edwin Hwu shows 55 lines per second imaging of DVD data tracks, matching the paper's numbers. The single biggest hurdle is not the controller build itself — it is the whole system: you need the Strømlinet DIY AFM kit and an anti-vibration table first, and the paper puts the full system at just under 4,000 dollars. The scanner calibration on a DVD track sample is documented in its own video on OSF. This is a research instrument for people who already know what AFM drift looks like, not a weekend science fair project. Correction (4 October 2026): we re-checked this page line by line against the project's own repository, documentation and videos, and fixed errors in earlier versions.