• Electrical System for Version 1 - Progress Update

    MoCo Makers • 08/28/2025 at 04:14 • 0 comments

    We have determined that there will be at least one, and possibly a second more refined version of the project. For sure in the first project, we largely continue to get inspiration from MechPanda and Dan Berard's work, meaning that we are only doing minor tweaks to update components. 
    We are fighting the urge to dramatically rework any systems until we have a baseline. The bare circuit board for the controller board remains largely the same, though the BOM has been updated. We identified the following boards:

    1. Controller Board (CAD documented)
    2. Preamplifier Board
    3. Power management module (to clean signal prior to entering the system power input terminals, allowing us to work with noisy wall AC adapters)
    4. Microcontroller adapter board (simple pins breakout for a Arduino Teensy 4.1 done with protoboard)
    5. A motor controller board (not shown, you can use a commercially available board here!)

    See those elements here:

    Controller Board

    The bare board was largely unchanged from Dan's design. However as mentioned components were updated. We will release an updated BOM and project files when we are further along in our testing, but feel free to reach out and ask for it any point.

    Preamplifier Board

    Note that we are testing out using a coaxial cable for the sense wire. Otherwise this board was made manually from bare copper stock board, using at-home PCB design techniques. We'll circle back and have a CAD-style version in a final files release.

    Power management module

    Notice that this is now a barrel jack power input from a wall outlet. This power chip is net-new for our project, and we'll be releasing the design files for this as well! This was also an at-home crafted circuit board prototype.

    Microcontroller adapter board

    This is just mapping the Teensy pins to the Controller Board through a cable, and this can be done by referencing the Teensy code, and the Controller Board schematic.


    Overall, it's been a pure joy to work through the prototype assembly process, and learn about what's available, and what's missing. There were a number of 'hidden' steps beyond prior documentation we are excited to release.

    Full system integration photos (unshielded now for rapid testing):

    - This is also a sneak preview of a planned rework of the probe assembly (what holds the both the sample and the coarse approach motor). More details on this in future postings :D



    Our group has been having tons of fun, so here are some action shots and highlights:

    - Planning ahead for sample prep - we are looking at possibly gold leaf statically clung to metal (no glue).


  • Development Kickoff - We Begin

    MoCo Makers • 06/01/2025 at 18:31 • 0 comments

    Work has started on this, and we'll be releasing small incremental updates, before doing a final documentation and project file release. The logs here will be used only as status updates, with minor information in them that will be eventually added to our main documentation (work in progress).

    Right now we are working on a version 1 design, which is a minor update to MechPanda’s design using the same controller board and 3D printable structure, but with a slightly updated bill of materials (BOM) that uses more modern and in-stock components. We will use version 1 to learn areas to improve and develop version 2. Our goal is to make it easier to build, to source parts, and for the STM to be more precise by iteratively improving. Check back often for more updates.

    We’re MoCo Makers - a makerspace community out of Maryland, USA. We are working on developing a DIY version of a Scanning Tunneling Microscopes (STM) and making them available as easy-to-build kits for hobbyists to scan individual atoms! We are still refining our designs, so stay tuned.