Big plans for small things

Randy Sargent, Gene Cooper, Rich Gibson and I (Jay Longson) are working towards developing a suite of tools to aid in making these macro/micro/nano gigapans. We're hoping to very soon put together a standard recipe to enable people to adapt their own microscopes to take similar imagery. Our goal is for this to become a DIY project with differing levels of complexity based on the makers knowledge and skills. On one end of the spectrum will be a kit with all the necessary parts to create a gigapan enabled microscope, on the other end will be makers using some of the tools we develop here to modify their own microscopes. We hope to publish the "how to" through Make magazine. We aim to get these tools into the hands as as many people as possible, research scientists and kids alike. Stay tuned for more information.