Hardware Setup

Hardware Setup

Required hardware

Component	Notes
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B / B+	Pi 3 is the target; Pi 4/5 should work but are untested
Pi Camera Module v1 or v2	Connected via the CSI ribbon cable
HDMI display	Any monitor or TV with HDMI input
microSD card (≥ 8 GB)	Class 10 / A1 or faster recommended
USB keyboard	Required for all controls
Power supply	Official 5 V 2.5 A recommended

Assembly

1. Connect the camera module to the CSI port (ribbon cable, blue side toward Ethernet port).
2. Connect an HDMI display before powering on — the Pi reads EDID on boot to select the best resolution.
3. Connect a USB keyboard.
4. Flash the image to the microSD card (see Building) and insert it.
5. Power on.

First boot

• The system boots directly into the microscopi viewfinder application. No login prompt is shown.
• The display resolution is selected automatically from the EDID advertised modes. If the display is unusual, set fallback_width / fallback_height in microscopi.conf.
• SSH is available as microscopi@<ip> (check your router's DHCP table for the IP).

Mounting frame crop

If the microscope's physical mounting ring appears in the frame, use the crop_* settings in microscopi.conf to trim it:

[camera]
crop_top    = 0   # pixels from top edge of camera frame
crop_bottom = 0   # pixels from bottom edge
crop_left   = 0   # pixels from left edge
crop_right  = 0   # pixels from right edge

The cropped region is scaled to fill the display. Values are in camera-frame pixels at whatever resolution the camera is running.