Micropia is a zoo for microorganisms as part of Artis Amsterdam and was conceptualized by Art+Com Berlin. With the help of modern media technologies and stereomicroscopes from Carl Zeiss Jena, visitors are introduced to the world of these tiny creatures.

On behalf of my employer aura optik, I developed a control box for the museum-friendly operation of these complex stereomicroscopes, which makes it possible to operate the basic functions of the microscope with a simple USB joystick. This includes zoom, focus and the position of the slide stage as well as illumination.

In order to provide the visitor with a pleasant experience, care has been taken to limit the range of movement and the zoom range using presets so that something can always be viewed. Should the visitor nevertheless get lost in the depths of the microcosm, a double-click of a button on the joystick can return the slide and microscope to a starting position. This also happens after a certain time has elapsed in combination with dimming the lighting to protect the specimens. The presets as well as the starting position can be set and readjusted by trained personnel.

The challenge of the project was the implementation of a USB stack at microcontroller level and the integration into the Zeiss CAN stack.