Category Archives: Announcements
DropBot updates and EMC testing
We’ve been silent on the blog for the past few months, but fear not, DropBot development has not stalled. In fact, we’re going full steam ahead and getting ready to release the next (v3) DropBot system. There are a lot of updates (too many for a single blog post!) so I’ll stick to some highlights […]
Also posted in Diagnotics, EMC, Fabrication
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MicroDrop v2.0 release
We’ve just released MicroDrop v2.0. You can get it here. We’ve been using this version internally for a few months now, and we think you’re going to love it! It has a lot of new features, including: droplet path routing improved video registration a new profile manager which enables switching between multiple MicroDrop profile directories […]
Sciex Analyst Control app and Microdrop plugin
We just released a Windows app called “AnalystControl” that can connect to the Sciex Analyst application (used to control auto samplers, mass spec, etc.) to start/stop queued acquisition batches. The binary release of the “AnalystControl” application is available at: https://github.com/wheeler-microfluidics/AnalystControl/releases/latest The source code of the “AnalystControl” application is available at: https://github.com/wheeler-microfluidics/AnalystControl See below for instructions on how a) directly […]
Tagged analyst, microdrop, plugin
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IPython notebook integration
We just published an update for Microdrop (v1.0.18) that adds an exciting new feature: IPython notebook integration. This provides a quick and easy way to dive in and explore data logged during the course of your experiments. This could be useful for custom analysis of one-off experiments, or you can save notebook templates so that […]
Always make sure that the amplifier is off when you launch Microdrop!
We’ve recently noticed strange things happening when connecting/re-connecting to the control board during an experiment (e.g., drops randomly moving on the device, electrolysis, etc.), and while testing out the new hardware calibration routines (e.g., several fried op-amps in the feedback circuit). We hooked up an oscilloscope to the system and ran some tests to figure […]
Preview of the Microdrop 1.0 release
Update 2015/03/18/: link to the portable v1.0rc0 instead of the earlier developer preview. This release candidate is considered stable for routine use; the only major change expected prior to v1.0 is the addition of a Windows installer. We are getting set to release version 1.0 of the Micrdrop software as well as a couple of […]
DropBot v2.1 hardware designs released
We just pushed up the v2.1 hardware designs to the git server. You can find instructions for ordering PCBs and a zip file containing all of the KiCAD, and gerber files on the wiki. This new design is a minor update to the v2.0 series. The biggest changes are: The new high-voltage switching boards are […]
DropBot workshop July 14-15th, 2014
Come join us this summer to learn to build and operate your very own DropBot system! We’re planning to host up to 15 people to at the University of Toronto for two full days of hands-on training. Checkout the website for more details and to register.
Grand Challenges Canada Proposal
Each year, an estimated 110,000 children are born with Congenital Rubella Syndrome and >100,000 die of measles. The diagnostic labs required to monitor and combat these diseases perform 2 million tests per year, and the associated costs present a major obstacle to the elimination of these diseases. We just applied for a grant with Grand […]
Announcing DropBot 2.0
We just released version 2.0 of the DropBot hardware. The new system is completely redesigned to be more compact, easier to build and offers many performance improvements. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting detailed instructions for people who want to build their own.