2.1 OPEN Leaf
OPEN Leaf’s hardware is inexpensive and can be acquired from several commercial sources. The frame was built using the open-source T-slot aluminum beams (80/20 LLC., Columbia City, IN, USA) and can be bought pre-cut or bought in bulk then cut down to size. The lead-screw track system is a commercial product called C-Beam™ Linear Actuator (openbuilds.com). The system includes the C-beam track, the gantry plate, and a NEMA23 stepper motor. The bundle comes with detailed instructions from OpenBuilds and designed for extended heavy-duty use. A bracket used to convert from the 80/20 beams to the OpenBuild’s track was 3D printed on a Prusa i3 MK3 (Prusa Research, Partyzánská, Czech Republic). The camera used was the Allied Vision Mako G-503 (Allied Vision, Stadtroda, Germany), a gigabit ethernet RGB camera that can capture high-resolution images.
An open-source C# desktop application is used to control the machine. The program has the ability to control several systems in parallel; however, since each system requires an ethernet port, this can be a bottleneck. The track system uses the open-source GRBL CNC mill g-code parser to drive the lead screw system. The desktop application sends manual g-code through an Arduino (arduino.cc), a hobbyist microcontroller, to travel to capture images.