Prototyping a Mechanical Mounting System for the Photogrammetric Use of USB Microscopes

The widespread and diversified use of portable devices with high magnification power at relatively low-cost, i.e., the so-called USB digital microscopes, has revealed the possibility of employing their photographic output in Structure from Motion processes for sub-millimetric digitisation. However, USB microscopes, born for two-dimensional inspection – if used without specific accessories, designed ad-hoc for the photogrammetric capture phase – can pose some difficulties for the surveyor in managing capture operations. Thus, this study suggests prototyping a low-cost, complete, and portable mounting compatible with the most common USB microscopes for image scanning. This system makes it possible to use portable USB microscopes for three-dimensional modelling at a low-cost, as it is easy to replicate both in terms of construction and the materials used. Therefore, through the interaction of several skills, the work shows how the photogrammetric process can also be made accessible to devices that were not initially designed for such application, paving the way for new paths in representation engineering research.