This Amazing Hack Turns A Blu-ray Player Into A Laser Microscope On the Cheap

By Ana Dascalescu

Posted on December 22, 2022

A solution for a large part of e-waste?

This Youtuber presented a very clever hack in which any old Blu-Ray player can be turned into a digital microscope.

Since Blu-Ray drives use lasers to read tiny dots on the surface of a disk, they work similarly to a microscope, so they can be turned into one. The hack doesn’t present a device that can compete with professional microscopes, which retail for thousands, but it’s certainly a good way to repurpose the now-obsolete Blu-Ray drives.

The hacker, the YouTuber Doctor Volt, used a few custom parts as well, but all of them can be had on the cheap.

Also read: 5 Eco-Friendly Smartphones To Help The Environment and Reduce E-Waste

After watching the video above, which is a fascinating engineering tour, you can also get started on your own project.

Doctor Volt uploaded a walkthrough, including schematics and the source code for controlling the microscope – you can find it here.

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This Amazing Hack Turns A Blu-ray Player Into A Laser Microscope On the Cheap