Today we are releasing version 2.0.0 of our OpenFlexure Microscope software stack.

This release marks what is essentially a complete rewire of the microscope API server. The new server, based on LabThings, has been restructured to use the W3C Web of Things architecture, for better future interoperability with other laboratory equipment and IoT devices.

With the API change brings an entirely overhauled extension system, allowing significantly simpler development and installation of microscope extensions, and improved developer tools. Additionally, background tasks are now much more powerful, supporting task progress updates, intermediate data, and (finally!) terminating tasks early.

Several new default extensions are now also packaged, including downloading collections of images as a ZIP file, and quickly switching between storage devices.

Alongside the updated server we are releasing OpenFlexure eV 2.0.0 to utilise these new features, and improve usability.

One significant additional is new autodiscovery of microscopes on a local network. You no longer need to know the microscopes IP address to connect, simply connect your devices to a common network, and OpenFlexure eV will automatically locate and connect to all discovered microscopes.

Full changelogs can be found for the server here, and for eV here.

Installing the new software

This release is being distributed as a pre-build SD card image for the Raspberry Pi. No installer script is required.

A step-by-step guide can be found on the OpenFlexure Microscope project page.

It is currently not possible to perform an in-place upgrade from 1.0 to 2.0. However, we anticipate that future 2.X releases will be installable through in-place upgrades from the 2.0.0 release.

Help and Support

We are now making use of a general OpenFlexure Helpdesk for reporting usability issues, especially for those unfamiliar with raising issues on our specific GitLab repositories. Please raise any general queries on the helpdesk here.