A 3D Printed Toolbox for Opto-Mechanical Components

PLoS One. 2017 Jan 18;12(1):e0169832. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169832. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

In this article we present the development of a set of opto-mechanical components (a kinematic mount, a translation stage and an integrating sphere) that can be easily built using a 3D printer based on Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) and parts that can be found in any hardware store. Here we provide a brief description of the 3D models used and some details on the fabrication process. Moreover, with the help of three simple experimental setups, we evaluate the performance of the opto-mechanical components developed by doing a quantitative comparison with its commercial counterparts. Our results indicate that the components fabricated are highly customizable, low-cost, require a short time to be fabricated and surprisingly, offer a performance that compares favorably with respect to low-end commercial alternatives.

MeSH terms

  • Equipment Design
  • Optics and Photonics / instrumentation*
  • Printing, Three-Dimensional / instrumentation*

Grants and funding

LJSS and AV acknowledge support from Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes. LJSS and JPT acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the “Severo Ochoa” Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (SEV- 2015-0522) and from Fundació Privada Cellex. JPT acknowledges support from the program ICREA Academia (Generalitat de Catalunya).