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Welcome to the documentation wiki for our Pipettin Bot project! Let's get to know a little bit about OLA and, specifically, our liquid handling robot, supported by this awesome documentation.

OLA (Open Lab Automata) is a community of people and projects focused on the automation of laboratory processes using open source technologies.

This documentation wiki contains hardware, software, and development information for a fully functional prototype of our open hardware pipetting robot and its software, which we call the Pipettin Bot.

Info

This documentation is work in progress. You'll see notices like this one marking pending work.

Please get in touch if you'd like to improve these docs. All contributions are welcome.

The new version and documentation can be considered in beta state, ready for repdoductions and independent testing.

Introduction

Pipettin Bot is a liquid handling robot that is easy to use, fully open source, highly documented, modular in design, minimal in cost, highly hackable, and meant to integrate well with other lab automation projects. The robot can facilitate liquid handling tasks, and can be programmed using a very nice web user interface.

One of the ideas behind this project is to create a robot that allows more people to do more research with their time, by lowering the entry barrier to automation on all fronts. The robot is fabricable, affordable, and adaptable, and free tech; thus allowing anyone to independently study, build, and modify its hardware and software.

This documentation aims to facilitate the process of using, building, and extending Pipettin Bot, and is also open source. The docs are intended to be exhaustive, because we believe that insufficient documentation makes independent reproduction really hard. By making and using Pipettin Bot, you will be able to save time and resources, becoming familiar with the whole project in small steps.

To access the project's sources, you can visit our git group at GitLab.

Check out the short summary below to learn more about it. 🤖

Demo Video

An overview presentation of the project is up on Youtube. It was prepared for the final demo of the Open Hardware Makers program.

Here is a video of the current version, running a simple volume transfer protocol.

The project started from a DIY Dremel-CNC machine, and slowly evolved into the dedicated lab automation machine we call the Pipettin bot.

The robot on the left is the original version, and next to it is the latest.

As can be seen in the pictures and videos, labware objects are aligned using a simple system of 3D-printed stops or "curbs", placed on the regular grid of holes of the baseplate (which is removable, and self-aligns to the frame). There are several tools mounted on the backpanel, that the robot can automatically pick-up and park, as commanded.

Specifications

These are the main characteristics of the "reference" robot:

• Workspace volume of 600x300x250mm.
• Tool-changing head, compatible with the Jubilee/E3D tool interface.
• Liquid handling with adapters for commercial micropipettes (e.g. Gilson's Pipetman).
• Web interface for writing and executing arbitrary pipetting protocols, and doing so with ease.
• Evergrowing documentation.

Info

Detailed technical information can be found in the technical overview page.

Documentation

New to Pipettin Bot's documentation? You'll find it divided into a few handy sections.

By visiting the Getting Started section, you will find quick links to some relevant pages along this wiki. Those are divided into guides and development pages.

If you are looking to dive into the project's documentation right away, you can also visit the Technical Overview section for a quick but effective overview of Pipettin bot's mechanics, electronics, and software.

If you aim to build the robot from scratch you can go directly to the Assembly Guide.

If you are looking for guidelines on how to use the Pipettin Bot software you can either visit the Software & Electronics Setup guide or the Installation guide to check out the installation requirements.

Want to know more about Pipettin Writer? An overview of our fantastic graphical protocol designer web-app can be found in the User Guide.

Tip

"Hours of troubleshooting can save you minutes of reading the Manual" (source: Reddit).

About

Audience

This project is currently aimed to people with research, hardware and/or software experience who want to build and collaborate with its development .

Now, we know that right now, we might not be holding the hands of beginners, but we're all about growth and learning. So, even if you're new to the game, keep an eye on us. We're coming out with ideas and plans to make our documentation a welcoming place for beginners down the road!

Check out the Contributions page, where we lay out the various ways you can either contribute or get support.

Motivation

We believe our project will fill a gap in OSH liquid handling robots. By fully complying with OSH definitions, we hope to enable anyone who wishes to independently study, build, or modify the hardware.

The acquisition cost of most pipetting robots (of at least 10.000 US dollars) is still prohibitive for all of our region’s laboratories but the elite.

We want to make a robot anyone can actually make or purchase; enabling more people to do more research with their time.

Objectives

To make a liquid handling robot which is:

• Easy to use
• Fully open-source
• Highly documented
• Modular in design
• Minimal in cost
• Very hackable
• Integrates well with open science hardware projects.

To these ends, we will:

• Make multimedia documentation covering most aspects of the project,
• Continue relying on widely available components, 3D printing, and modularization;
• Ese cheaper parts and make use of existing equipment (i.e. the micropipettes),
• Modularize hardware and software, implement a tool-changing system, and interface with other OScH products (thermocyclers, turbidimeters, colony-pickers, etc.).

Licensing

Our Pipetting Bot's hardware is licensed under the terms of the CERN OHL-S v2 and its software is licensed under the terms of GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. Full texts are available on the Licensing page.

This documentation is distributed under the CC-BY-SA-NC license. License text available here.

Get in touch

You are welcome to chat with us!

Social

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@OLA-OpenLabAutomata

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/openlabautomata/

G-Sites: http://www.openlabautomata.xyz/

Discord chat

You are welcome to join and chat at our Discord server.

Chat with us and tell us about your issues, ideas, and find general support.

This is a developers chat. Please be respectful of others and their time.

GitLab issues

If you're familiar with GitLab, all issues can be found here.

Alternatively, email our GitLab service desk. This will create a private issue, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

You can contribute through GitLab, where the project's development lives. If you want to open a discussion about a well-defined topic, related to development, you can post a new issue at the main GitLab repository.

We make extensive use of Issue Boards!

How to contribute

The growth of the Pipettin Bot project relies on the collective efforts of a diverse community of projects and contributors. We welcome everyone to actively participate and support the development of this open-source pipetting robot, and the open-source projects on which it was built.

There are many areas where you can contribute, ranging from improving the documentation, writing tutorials, submitting bugs or even writing code for new features inside Pipettin Bot itself. Whether you are an experienced technician, a software developer, a scientist, or simply passionate about advancing liquid handling technology, there are various ways you can contribute to the project's growth and impact.

Different personas can contribute in diverse and valuable ways!

A full list of types of contributors and ways to contribute is available here.

Donations and Funding

We are grateful for any donations or funding that can help continue to develop and improve the Pipettin Bot project. Your contributions will help cover the costs of hardware, software, and development time, as well as help us reach a wider audience.

You can donate to the Pipettin Bot project through Liberapay. This is a platform that allows you to make recurring donations to people and projects that you are interested in.

We also welcome investments to the Pipettin Bot project. If you are interested in investing in the project, please contact us through OLA's Discord server.

Thank you for your support!

Credits and acknowledgements

A full list of collaborators is available here

Original development by Nicolás and Facundo:

• The original web UI and its design.
• Models for the the CNC frame and pipette actuators.
• CNC and pipette driver modules for the bot.

Development community:

• Instituto de Nanosistemas - UNSAM
• TECSCI S.A.S
• Fiqus coop.

We are very grateful to:

• The developers of GRBL, the greatest firmware for the Arduino UNO + CNC shield.
• The community behind Klipper, "a 3D-printer firmware".
• The Jubilee3D folks, for the welcoming and supportive chats.
• The reGOSH free tech, latin-american network, and the truly awesome people at GOSH.
• And to the greater open-source community!

We thank the Gathering for Open Science Hardware, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and Fondo de Innovación Tecnológica de Buenos Aires for their support.

We thank reGOSH for bringing us together, making the project possible.

FAQ

• Can anyone access to OLA documentation?

Yes. Anyone can access to OLA documentation and it's repository, as it is an Open Source Hardware project.

• Is this documentation only addressed to people who have previous knowledge in electronics, mechanical or other subject relevant to the bot?

No. Even though it might be easier to understand the purpose and functionality of OLA having some sort of previous knowledge, the idea of this documentation is that anyone who aims to assemble the bot can.