OLYMPUS TECHNOZONE Vol.55 2002-10
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INDEX
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The
key to the ultimate development of a commercial product
was the
extremely intuitive idea of an inverted microscope
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| The MIC-D in the classroom. A group of students
can observe things in real-time, thus stimulating interest
and excitement.) |
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| The 13x optical zoom is one of the MIC-D's
standard functions, making the microscope great fun for observing
a wide variety of objects. |
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----What about the inverted microscope concept?
I see that as the key. When I thought of inverting
the microscope and told the other staff about it, it was as if
our work was complete. That is when we knew we could create a really
exciting product.
The stage design of the MIC-D is similar to that in a conventional microscope.
There is an object lens, and you need to be able to mount and remove specimens
and move them around. The more you emphasize functionality in product design,
the more the product will resemble a conventional microscope. This tendency is
also apparent in the Intel Play™QX3.
Without the inverted scope concept, our design would have looked like an imitation.
At times we seemed to be going nowhere with the project.
We thought that a price of around  100,000
would be the limit for the education market. Around the time that we adopted
the inverted design, it also became apparent that this price was achievable.
The MIC cost about 50,000,
which is the common price range for an educational microscope.
The MIC-D would cost double that, so we needed to market the advantages
of an inverted design. Those advantages include the ability to
use a variety of light sources and view a variety of objects.
Indeed. You can simply cut a strawberry in
half and put it onto the stage.
The ability to light specimens from above
is crucial. With a normal microscope, the object lens is moved
up and down, so if the specimen is thick, there is a danger that
the lens will strike it. With the MIC-D, the lens is actually stored
inside the body of the microscope.
-----So that is why the inverted design is so great.
In fact, I did not come up with the idea. The
person who initially had the idea just made a casual suggestion.
Someone said, "Why not turn it upside
down?" A lot of decisions were made in that instant. We had
endless debate about the shape, but the structure was finalized
in a couple of days.
I had a clear image in my mind after a few
hours.
Another major change was the use of a zoom
function instead of interchangeable object lenses. And since the
focus is adjusted by moving the lens inside the microscope, there
is no risk of damage to the object lens.
Because the microscope is intended for educational
use, we had many discussions about all the wrong things that children
might do to it such as breaking the slides when they lower the
object lens too far. |
