YOU CAN BUILD THE €4,000 CAMERA THAT FILMS INSIDE A SPINNING CENTRIFUGE, FOR €350
A wireless camera that spins with a lab-on-a-disc on its own test-stand and films the liquid standing still, for €350 instead of €4,000.
by Brian Regan, David Kinahan, Philip Daly, Richard O'Kennedy and David Collins
ScienceOpen-hardware
Built withArduino3D printing
- difficulty
- ●●●●○
- time
- a long weekend
- license
- CC BY 4.0
- repo
- repo FINISHED0 stars
●●●●○ · a long weekend · CC BY 4.0 · 0 stars · repo FINISHED
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
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COMPAREE VERDICT
This is a published academic hardware project that does exactly what it claims: it puts a camera on a spinning disc so you can film lab-on-a-disc microfluidics in real time. Commercial systems cost from 4,000 euros upwards because they use stroboscopes and high-speed cameras; this inverts the problem by moving with the disc, so an ordinary wireless camera is enough. The paper is unusually complete: assembly photos, vibration characterisation up to 5,000 rpm, and all files on Mendeley Data. The hardest part is not the printing or the electronics, it is milling the acetal and acrylic layers accurately and getting the spinning assembly stable enough not to shake. The paper gives you the stabiliser layer design and the vibration data, but no balancing procedure, so expect iteration if you have never built a rotating assembly. The camera, LEDs and coin-cell circuit all ride on the spindle in a small dome, so space is tight, and the authors insist it must run inside a protective shield. Once it works, you have a tool that costs about a tenth of the commercial alternative. This is for people who actually need to see inside a spinning disc, which means microfluidics researchers, not general makers.
IN THE REPO
GOOD TO KNOW
- —CAD and STL files, CNC (NC) files for the milled layers, the Arduino control script and circuit schematics are on Mendeley Data, alongside the open-access HardwareX article.
- —The bill of materials is itemised with supplier part numbers and costs EUR 344.40 as published in 2022.
- —You need a 3D printer and a low-cost CNC mill for the acetal and acrylic layers; the authors used an EVO II (MakerDreams).
- —The camera is a generic Wi-Fi spy camera (Aobo HC005) that streams to a smartphone, the spindle motor is an NMB DIA42B20W32A BLDC with built-in encoder and driver, and the bearings are standard catalogue parts.
- —Licence is CC BY 4.0, which permits commercial use with attribution.
- —This is a research tool build, not a consumer product. No pre-made boards or kits exist.
Parts to buy
9 itemsFrom our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.
- Generic Wi-Fi camera (Aobo HC005)Find
- White LEDs and a coin-cell battery circuitFind
- Arduino UnoFind
- NMB DIA42B20W32A BLDC motorFind
- Anchor and reference bearingsFind
- Acetal and acrylic sheet for the milled layersFind
- PolyJet-printed spindle plateFind
- 24 V supplyFind
- MMA8451 accelerometer only if you want to measure vibrationFind
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 article (The open-access paper has the design rationale, BOM, assembly photos and the vibration analysis.)
- 2.Download the files from Mendeley Data(CAD, STL and CNC files, the Arduino script and circuit schematics are at DOI 10.17632/5rrc89f2kj.1.)
- 3.Check your CNC mill bed size(The acetal and acrylic platform layers are milled (the authors used an EVO II CNC); the spindle plate itself is PolyJet-printed.)
- 4.Source the BLDC spindle motor(The paper uses an NMB DIA42B20W32A BLDC with a built-in encoder and driver; a substitute needs the same speed feedback for the PI speed control.)
KNOWN ISSUES
- Vibration is the enemy. The paper's stabiliser layer and vibration measurements (tested in 200 RPM steps up to 5,000 RPM) help, but there is no balancing procedure to follow: keep the camera as close to the anchor bearing as its focus allows, check alignment carefully, and ramp up speed gradually, or the image will blur and the bearings will suffer.
- The dome, the camera and the battery circuit all ride on the spindle plate, so space is tight and every gram adds to vibration. The camera has to sit about 85 mm above the disc to focus, so check the exact camera you buy before printing.
- The camera streams over Wi-Fi to a smartphone, so the phone must stay in range of the spinning assembly; generic cameras that look identical can have different specs, so test yours before committing.
- The battery and power circuits are simple boards built from the circuit schematics on Mendeley Data — there are no Gerbers, so plan to build them on perfboard.
- This is a research tool, not a consumer device. There is no calibration routine and no UI: you set the speed profile in the Arduino script (Wifi_Camera_System_Control) before uploading it, and watch the speed in the Arduino serial monitor. Expect to edit that script for your own disc protocols.
Can I use this for anything other than lab-on-a-disc microfluidics?
Possibly, but the design is optimised for that use case. If you need to film any other rotating assembly where the camera has to move with it, the principles apply, but you will be adapting the dimensions and the balance.
Do I need a real centrifuge or can I drive the motor directly?
No centrifuge is needed — the build is itself a centrifugal test-stand: an Arduino Uno drives a BLDC spindle motor with PI speed control, and the camera assembly rides on the spindle plate. You still need to balance it.
What frame rate does the camera achieve?
The paper uses a generic Wi-Fi spy camera (Aobo HC005) recording straight to a smartphone and notes that look-alike cameras differ in specs — check frame rate and resolution of the exact unit you buy.
Can I buy a pre-made PCB or a kit?
No. This is an academic open-source build; the files and schematics are free on Mendeley Data, but there is no commercial kit.
Community builds
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Discussion1
FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM
The paper states imaging systems like this can cost from EUR 4,000 upwards, while this build comes to about EUR 344 — but you need a CNC mill and a well-balanced spindle. Is that trade worth it for your lab, or would you rather buy the commercial version?
Brian Regan, David Kinahan, Philip Daly, Richard O'Kennedy and David Collins
A research team at the School of Biotechnology and the School of Mechanical Engineering, Dublin City University, built this to solve a real problem in lab-on-a-disc diagnostics: you cannot see what is happening inside a spinning disc without a strobe and a high-speed camera, which costs thousands of euros. They published the full design as open hardware in HardwareX.
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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.
CompareeTEAM16d agoedited
Practical notes from our verification: the files (CAD, STL, CNC files, scripts and circuit schematics) are on Mendeley Data at DOI 10.17632/5rrc89f2kj.1, not on GitHub, and the HardwareX article is the documentation — there is no separate build guide and no Gerber files. The biggest dependency is a CNC mill: the authors cut the acetal and acrylic layers on a low-cost EVO II CNC. The camera is a generic Aobo HC005 Wi-Fi camera recording to a smartphone, and the motor is an NMB BLDC with built-in encoder, driven by an Arduino Uno. Vibration is the thing to watch: the paper warns that any imbalance or misalignment is amplified the further the camera sits from the anchor bearing, and the authors tested up to 5,000 RPM in 200 RPM steps. No video walkthrough exists, so the figures in the article are all you have. 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.