The Origin of Big Rock’s Digital Microscopy

Technological advances have provided a vast toolbox to the modern exploration geologist, but access to the rocks themselves remain a key component in utilizing these modern tools to properly interpret and understand field data.

Microscopy, for example, provides a means to characterize and understand rock samples and give geological context to these data. However, traditional microscopic observations require a microscope and a physical sample – both of which can limit the broader utility of microscopy in long-distance collaborative applications.

The PiAutoStage system was designed by Big Rock Senior Geologist Alex Steiner and Michigan State University Professor Tyrone Rooney with the intent of providing students and researchers with high-resolution imagery of petrographic samples at a time when it was not possible to work in laboratories due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Images are collected through the high-quality optics of a microscope utilizing a 3D printed, computer–controlled mechanism. Those images are then combined into a mosaic and delivered online using a tiled image format allowing for high-resolution images to be viewed, even on limited bandwidth connections.