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LegoRoboBricks for Automated BioBrick Assembly

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Commercial Liquid Handling Systems are extremely expensive, and are typically beyond the reach of the average molecular biologist interested in performing high throughput methods. To address this problem, our project consists of the design and implementation of a liquid handling system built from commonly accessible Legos. We demonstrate a proof-of-principle use for this system to perform BioBrick assembly by transferring colored dye solutions on a 96-well plate.

We introduce a new concept called LegoRoboBrick. The liquid handling system is build by designing and implementing 3 LegoRoboBrick modular components: ALPHA (Automated Lego Pipette Head Assembly), BETA (BioBrick Environmental Testing Apparatus), and PHI (Pneumatic Handling Interface). We will demonstrate that the same BioBrick assembly software can run on multiple plug-and-play LegoRoboBrick instances with different physical dimensions and geometric configurations. The modular design of LegoRoboBricks allows easy extension of new laboratory functionalities in the future.

Project Summary

Hardware

• Lego Bricks
  • Commonly accessible industry standard

Firmware

• RobotC
  • Made in CMU Robotics Academy
  • Enables floating point precision

Software

• ALPHA module
  • Precise reverse triangulation using Rotational Matrix
  • Controller of Master-Slave Synchronization
  • Accurately positions pipette head
• PHI module
  • Pneumatic control to suck and dispense fluid
  • Compression pump to "air-clean" system

LegoRoboBrick Modules

Module ALPHA

ALPHA stands for Automatic Lego Pipet Head Assembly.

• Created 8/21/2009
• Consists of 3 double-jointed arms.
  • One joint is connected to the motor, and is controlled entirely by the motor. This is also referred to as the control arm.
  • The other joint moves in a sphere, and is loose. The end of this attaches to the platform which holds the pipet tip. This is referred to as linkage.
• Videos
  • <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/w3gM0UWEjjQ&hl=ko&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/w3gM0UWEjjQ&hl=ko&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
    • This video shows that the module has high accuracy and precision. The stand is module Beta.
  • [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3gM0UWEjjQ&feature=channel Two Robots]
    • This video shows that the same code can be used for other versions of ALPHA. The only difference is 6 physical constants:
      1. Top Offset
      2. Bottom Offset
      3. Control Arm Length
      4. Linkage Arm Length
      5. Inter-arm Angle
      6. Gear Ratio
  • [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsu2nNNU34g&feature=channel_page Old Video]

Module BETA

BETA stands for Biobrick Enviroment Testing Apparatus.

• Consists of a telescoping frame, and a big lego plate.
  • The telescoping frame is used for holding ALPHAs and PHIs.
  • the big lego plate is where you put the 96-well plates and petri dishes.

Module PHI

PHI stands for Pneumatics Handling Interface.

• PHI is the pipette. It consists of three motors.
  • Motor A.
    • This motor controls the flow of the air. If you look at it from the side when the switch is visible:
      • When the switch is to the left, there is a direct flow from the pipet head to the air. This makes it possible to use the second motor (motor B) to suck without sucking any liquid, and enabling it to blow extra air out.
      • When the switch is in the middle, there is no connection.
      • When the switch is to the right, the pressure built up in the air tank is released into the pipette head.
  • Motor B.
    • This motor is connected to a piston, so it can suck and dispense liquid.
  • Motor C.
    • This motor is connected to to compressors compressing air in the air tank. It runs for 7 seconds once the air is released.
• Videos
  • [<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WCM2kRFt-w4&hl=ko&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WCM2kRFt-w4&hl=ko&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>]
    • This video shows Phi running by itself.

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Project Details

Part 2

The Experiments

Part 3

Results

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