Macro photography using Tic stepper motor controllers

Posted by Jon on 4 February 2019

Mike’s portable stack & stitch image acquisition setup, which includes three Tic T500s.

Mike’s precision stack & stitch image acquisition setup, which includes three Tic T500s.

Forum member Mike is using our Tic stepper motor controllers in his automated stack & stitch image acquisition systems, which he has been using to get extremely high resolution images of various integrated circuits. Each system uses linear rails and stepper motors to properly align the camera/lens and the object to be photographed. Two stepper motors position the subject and a third adjusts how close the camera is to the subject. A Tic T500 controls each stepper motor and each Tic connects to a USB port on a Raspberry Pi 3B or Raspberry Pi 3B+, which acts as the main computer. Afterward, Mike stacks the images with Zerene Stacker and stitches them together with Photoshop. Some of his image sessions capture as many as 6000 individual images that are used to produce a single 300 megapixel image!

Zooming in on a stack & stitch test image.

A close-up view of a stack & stitch test image.

You can find more information about Mike’s stack & stitch image acquisition systems (like what specific mechanical hardware he is using) in this forum post. Also, to see and/or download a set of high resolution pictures taken with those setups, follow this link.

0 comments

Post a comment

Using your Pololu account allows you to customize your avatar and manage your comments; you can also post anonymously.

Related Products

Tic T500 USB Multi-Interface Stepper Motor Controller
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

Related Categories

Tic Stepper Motor Controllers
Log In
Pololu Robotics & Electronics
Shopping cart
(702) 262-6648
Same-day shipping, worldwide
Menu
Shop Blog Forum Support
My account Comments or questions? About Pololu Contact Ordering information Distributors