Topic · 30 posts
Programming
30 posts on Programming, 2008–2026, newest first.
Programming posts, newest first
- 21 Jul2026
Starlyte Nebula Driver FAQ
TL:DR Live Debugging Get a Full list of Supported Drivers Testing a Specific Driver File Testing Host and Sub Devices Live Debugging Due to the open nature of our driver system, it’s relatively straightforward to write a new driver file…
ImagingNebulaProgramming3 min read
- 24 Feb2026
Starlyte Nebula Adds Drag+Drop Merge Captures
Tool simplifies manual capture We had a recent customer asking to solve a rather standard but annoying problem. If I have a manual filter turret, and still want to overlay images, how easy is it to do? To solve this, we added the ability…
CameraDevice automationNebula1 min read
- 01 Feb2018
Mac OSX Serial Terminal for ARC
I’ve long wanted to build a terminal and testing application for my products. Using the exceptional QT Creator, I was able to cook one up in a relatively short period of time! This application was built using the QT Terminal example…
ArduinoProgrammingTriggerscope1 min read - 13 Apr2017
LED, laser, or other PWM control using Triggerscope
It appears that more and more people want to use PWM control for illumination devices from Micro-Manager and other imaging software. PWM may be used for any number of applications, from high speed pulsing of an LED, or a laser, in order to…
Micro-ManagerMicroscopesProgramming1 min read - 01 Mar2017
Computational imaging continues to grow in microscopy
The Waller Lab recently had a demo announcement of their awesome implementation of computational imaging. They have some examples on their lytro page, which look really cool! This got me thinking about the last 10 years or so, and how the…
MicroscopesProgrammingSuper Resolution2 min read - 05 Jun2016
Shutter Configuration of TTL devices in Micromanager
I made this video to show how to use both a state device shutter object and a group shutter object in micro-manager. Hopefully others can make use of it!
ImagingMicro-ManagerMicroscopes1 min read - 05 May2016
Build a Stratux in 10 minutes! (ADS-B)
As the 2020 FAA mandate for ADS-B comes upon us, more aircraft are using the ADS-B system. Additionally, weather transmission via towers is a major free source of in-flight weather info. Having recently picked up a new iPad, and…
Programming1 min read
- 04 May2016
Dynamic Mirror Reflection Angles using Fusion360
SO I’ve been working with AutoDesk’s Fusion360 for a while now, and have found it to be an exceptional tool for diving into CAD. If you’ve considered CAD before, but have been scared off by the learning curve, I recommend checking it out…
ImagingOpticsProgramming1 min read
- 28 Apr2016
Optical Design comes to the iPad!
Over the past 5 years, almost every project I’ve worked on has required some level of optic design. In many cases, simple designs suffice. For example, projecting an LED can be accomplished at a basic level with an aspheric condenser. But…
ImagingLaserOptics1 min read
- 20 Dec2015
Experimental FM transmitter using Raspberry Pi 2
If you have an extra Raspberry pi around and want to try something fun, you can use the GPIO on the pi to transmit at FM frequencies. For the rPi v1 you can use this link for instructions. For Raspberry Pi2 I found a great application…
Programming1 min read
- 17 Sep2015
Acquisition Speed Comparison of MetaMorph, NIS Elements, Micro-Manager
How fast can a typical imaging system really run? What factors affect this? While most research might not require rapid sequential capture, almost all experiments can benefiet from tight exposure/illumination timing, yet few microscope…
ArduinoDevice automationNIS-Elements3 min read
- 23 Aug2015
Sub $2 microcontroller solution
I’ve been working with Arduino boards a lot lately, and they are great. But some elements of the arduino can be even better. What is an Arduino? An Arduino is a breakout board for the Atmel “ATMega” series of microcontrollers. These…
ArduinoDevice automationProgramming2 min read
- 29 Jul2015
Countdown to a Revolution in Microscopy – Day 3
Every so often I will get the chance to cook up some code for one of the usual software scope control packages. But these days, I spend most of my time in programs like Fusion360, Fritzing, and the like. So I guess this is how I feel when…
Device automationImagingMicroscopes2 min read
- 30 Mar2015
Arduino Mega 2560 Comparator
So I needed to set up an Arduino Mega as a signal processor. I had a sawtooth signal coming from a device, and I wanted to convert that signal to a 0/5V TTL signal. Now, with something like a sine or sawtooth wave, the question becomes…
MacrosProgramming2 min read
- 29 Feb2012
ImageJ Counting Macro for Known Field Values
Here’s a simple method to deal with varying intensities in a large run of images, assuming you have a known number of cells in a field. If I assume I should see, say, more than X cells per area, I can adjust my threshold to slowly increase…
ImageJImagingMacros1 min read - 07 Nov2011
The CNC Machine is done!
So after 6 months of watching the guys at mydiycnc complete their manual, and roughly 4 months of building, I’m happy to post that I’ve finished the machine. I’ve written an extensive post on the last few days of building, on the build log…
Device automationProgramming1 min read
- 07 Nov2011
WHY YOU SHOULD ATTEND THE UCSF/QB3 Microscopy Course
Over the course of my career, I’ve flown across the US to attend a variety of imaging related instructional courses, all on the eastern seaboard. We are all familiar with the Woods Hole courses, the AQLM course, and so forth. What has…
NIS-ElementsImageJImaging1 min read - 08 Jul2011
Lumencor Spectra Driver Available
I’ve written a Lumencor Spectra Driver that works with NIS Elements B3.2+. (AR or BR + Advanced Interpreter) The driver provides integrated control into elements for both intensity of lines and channel. These appear as a shutter and two…
NIS-ElementsImagingMacros1 min read
- 29 Apr2011
Voltage output from NIS Elements, MetaMorph or uManager for under $200
I posted briefly about this a while back, in my explanation of the demise of the parallel port. I finally got my hands on a National Instruments USB-6008 box, and have found the unit to be 100% compatible with any NI-DAQ controlling…
Device automationNIS-ElementsImageJ2 min read
- 08 Apr2011
Proper RGB Conversion of Multichannel Images
When acquiring images in NIS Elements, it is possible to acquire each image with a color over that is approximate to the wavelength used for acquisition. This is the easiest way to view and relate multi-channel data, but when converting…
NIS-ElementsImagingMacros1 min read
- 29 Mar2011
Determining background sources in fluorescence
For microscopy engineers and suppliers like me, the background produced in an image is of importance, if that background is created by the imaging system itself. What so many of us on this side of the scope (vs the user side) forget to…
NIS-ElementsImageJImaging2 min read
- 25 Mar2011
Photometrics LVDS cards on Win7
I recently slogged through a tough install with a customer (Thanks Sean!!) in an attempt to run an older Photometrics camera using a PCI card in windows 7/xp. What we found was that the latest driver, (as of this post v. 2,7,10) is not…
Device automationImagingPhotometrics1 min read
- 14 Mar2011
I’ve moved to Bluehost – Notice?
So after experiencing extremely slow delays (page load times) with my old hosting provider, I decided to move to Bluehost. For those of you interested in running your own wordpress site, it turns out that some companies don’t host…
Programming1 min read - 07 Feb2011
Fix for Elements v 3.2 and ASI Stages
As anyone who is running NIS Elements v 3.20 + is aware, the ASI stage controllers of any MS-2000 series will not be usable once elements issues a connection command to the controller. Elements will control the stage properly, however the…
ASI StageNIS-ElementsImaging2 min read - 31 Jan2011
Merging multiple channels in Fiji
I had this question asked at my recent Bio-X training, and wanted to provide a thorough answer to it, as this is a common need: Assume we have multiple images, or multiple stacks, and we want to analyze something like the intensity through…
ImageJImagingProgramming3 min read
- 21 Jan2011
BioX Training at Stanford
Welcome Bio-X Course Attendees! Due to it’s utility and ease of providing common tools in a variety of operating system choices, I’ll be running this course using the FIJI build of ImageJ. You can find Fiji here. Please bring the following…
ImageJImagingProgramming1 min read
- 27 Aug2010
Instensity Calibration using a Photostable Light Source
I’m very excited to announce Technical Instruments’ first ever camera-specific calibration product! At left is an image of the CC-560, or Camera calibrator, which emits photons at 560nm. All of the cameras in the microscopy world rely upon…
Device automationImagingNikon3 min read
- 05 Mar2010
Micro-Manager 1.3 and Velleman Boards
If you are running micro manager and need to control a device via TTL or voltage, there is a nice driver written for umanager along with an inexpensive A/D card. The Card I used for a recent project was the Velleman K-8061. I’ve written up…
Device automationProgramming1 min read - 21 Sep2009
Elements 3.1 Released
Nikon has released it’s major revision of Elements in version 3.1. (Build 587). There are several new features in this build and from what i’ve seen it’s quite stable. You can download the build here. – Austin
Device automationNIS-ElementsNikon1 min read - 14 Nov2008
What can programming macros do for me?
I’ve been running into a lot of programming applications lately. The fun part about using the Elements (or other) programming system is the amount of utility and flexibility it can offer to end users. Most people think about programming in…
Device automationNIS-ElementsMacros2 min read