High throughput screening (HTS) has lead to a revolution in research laboratories
due to the possibility of performing millions of tests very quickly. The rise of HTS
was accompanied by the appearance of the market of liquid handling robots (LHRs),
which intend to automatize the handling of samples in HTS procedures. However,
commercial LHRs are a noticeable investment for many small biology laboratories.
The objective of this project is to create, using LEGO Mindstorm, a low-cost LHR
that ...
High throughput screening (HTS) has lead to a revolution in research laboratories
due to the possibility of performing millions of tests very quickly. The rise of HTS
was accompanied by the appearance of the market of liquid handling robots (LHRs),
which intend to automatize the handling of samples in HTS procedures. However,
commercial LHRs are a noticeable investment for many small biology laboratories.
The objective of this project is to create, using LEGO Mindstorm, a low-cost LHR
that is able to fill 96-well plates automatically. The robot, which we have called
EVE, uses a single channel micropipette and avoids cross-contamination between
wells by changing pipette tips during the plate-filling procedure.
EVE’s design was created combining computational design with the physical assembly of the different robot parts. Additionally, two 3D printed bases were created to
sustain all the different required elements for the robot function.
Finally, EVE was coded to perform routines like copying a 96-well plate or performing a dilution. The software also includes a menu to calibrate the robot and select
the desired routine to perform.
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