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A major such challenge is setting up and synchronizing the control of multiple hardware components such as stages, cameras and lasers. With UC2\u2010ESP, we present a low\u2010cost electronics system powered by the ESP32 microcontroller (\u223c$10), designed as an accessible, open\u2010hardware alternative to commercial controllers for custom and open\u2010source microscopy setups. Our system can interface with stepper motors, direct current motors, lasers (transistor\u2010transistor logics, TTL or pulse width modulation, PWM), light\u2010emitting diodes and analog voltage outputs (galvo mirrors and LED current control), allowing precise control over microscopy hardware. The platform is highly flexible, supporting custom pin configurations and multiple communication interfaces such as Bluetooth, universal serial bus (USB\u2010serial) and HTTP via a built\u2010in web server. A PlayStation controller can be used for haptic hardware manipulation, whereas commands are transmitted in a human\u2010readable JSON format to ensure modularity and extensibility. The firmware is designed to receive parameters and execute actions dynamically, supporting complex control loops such as motor homing, stage scanning and temperature regulation via integrated controllers. Furthermore, the system integrates seamlessly with ImSwitch as well as Micro\u2010Manager and offers a browser\u2010based control tool using Web Serial. This open\u2010source firmware enables microscopy research groups to develop custom setups and expand functionality efficiently, at low cost and high flexibility.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/jmi.70147","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,21]],"date-time":"2026-07-21T10:15:14Z","timestamp":1784628914000},"page":"249-262","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["UC2\u2010ESP: A general\u2010purpose framework for open\u2010source microscopy control"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"303","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0453-6286","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Benedict","family":"Diederich","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology  Jena Germany"},{"name":"openUC2 GmbH  Jena Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ingo","family":"Fuchs","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"openUC2 GmbH  Jena Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haoran","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology  Jena Germany"},{"name":"openUC2 GmbH  Jena Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Holger","family":"Bierhoff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Center for Molecular Biomedicine (CMB) Friedrich Schiller University  Jena Germany"},{"name":"Leibniz Institute on Aging Fritz Lipmann Institute  Jena Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christian","family":"Kuttke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"openUC2 GmbH  Jena Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rainer","family":"Heintzmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology  Jena Germany"},{"name":"Institute of Physical Chemistry and Abbe Center of Photonics Friedrich Schiller University Jena  Jena Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_9_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1364\/boe.385729"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1257998"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ohx.2023.e00407"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.14440\/jbm.2014.36"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41592\u2010019\u20100688\u20100"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1117\/3.2585955"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1098\/rsta.2023.0214"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ohx.2022.e00370"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/adbi.202101063"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_11_1","unstructured":"youseetoo. 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