Hello!

interesting that you mentioned bio wet lab equipment. This is exactly what i intend to build when i make my reprap (starting some time in february after a student loan check comes in ). I was actually on a synthetic biology forum when i saw a link to thingverse (which eventually led me here).

printing with HDPE is going to be great, its perfect for biological aplications.

Are there any other people into diy biology here?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2010 01:51AM by SebastienBailard.

Probably. It's my job to make a space for you, so that you can find each other.

So, I've created a dedicated RWB forum, and given Bio Wet Lab Equipment its own thread so that you guys can find each other. When you want, we'll give a you dedicated forum. And then multiple forums, when the "bolt a pipette onto a RepRap" guys start stepping on the toes of the "radio collars for snakes" people.

Here's a link to the pipette page on wikipedia for people who want to bolt a pipette on to a RepRap and then sell it to a biologist as a Bio Wet Lab Robot for USD30,000.
[en.wikipedia.org]

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Ryan, here's a wiki page to get started. Just log in and click "edit" to get started.

Edit into the shape you like, move it, create other pages and link to it, and then let me know when you're ready and we'll talk it up on blog.reprap.org and you'll get people dogpiling on it to work on it.
[objects.reprap.org]

I'd suggest you tack up some napkin drawings, renders, etc. in order to drum up interest and generate discussion before we shout it to the heavens. It may be best to try to keep the renders and files on RepRap.org rather than scattered around on sundry other servers, but no matter.

You can create wiki pages where ever you like, using [[SnakeCollar]], and so on.

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I know polycaprolactone, aka "Capa" is wonderfully non toxic; it rots well rather than ending up in a plastic garbage gyre in the ocean, and it's used for drug implants and other implants in the human body. It also melts at 80C or so, and probably makes interestingly shaped lumps when you try to sterilize it by boiling or in an autoclave.

That's the extent of my knowledge about such matters.

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Also, Bio Wet Lab Equipment, aka BWLE is a good place for all open source hardware in general, as applicable to a lab. Lasercut test-tube holders, diy radio tracking collars for your snake / significant other, etc.*

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Let me know when you think RWB - Bio Wet Lab Equipment needs its own forum, even if that's immediately.

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* I dreamt that up as a thought experiment / art idea for my wife, and she wants me to make one for her and one for me.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2010 02:18AM by SebastienBailard.

[www.delta-robotics.com]

delta robot moves the platform, extruders rotate on a table. simple, efficient, precice bio printing!

this is the real deal. check out the things they are doing for bone grafts!! this tech is incredible. it makes me want to make carbon nanotube extruders and build androids. anyone down?

[88proof.com]

software to control microfluid dispensing

I'd say, pick a small, doable, well-defined project and focus on that like a laser.

Declare a working party, and I'll do up an announcement in the General forum. And then once you figure out more details, (like a cash grant, or stuff like this:
[objects.reprap.org]
we can blog it on blog.reprap.org when we have good text, a few photos, maybe a rendering or so on.

Low hanging fruit:
bio wet lap pipette robot.
peristaltic pump.

Hard to reach fruit:
Android
Clone of your dog.

Other folk can brainstorm below. Or you can brainstorm in the general forum, if the community is silent in here.

well as soon as the delta bot software comes through its off to skycraft to start building, my student loan money comes in a week, then i can get this ball on a roll

You can always check out Lab Design and Supply for a diff look at equipment

A micropipette with the reprap sounds awesome! having any pressured container, or syringe like tip could work, then having the reprap increase the pressure to print. How will it be adapted for 3D work though? what will happen to the liquid. A glue like liquid could be used to print on powdered PLA then oven baked to set the structure... just throwing out ideas

... look at the photos of my paste-dispenser: [objects.reprap.org]

The different types in the last picture were pressure-driven.

Some years ago I've developed and built a 'pico-dispenser', that is capable of placing single droplets of high viscous liquids (e.g. 40000 MPa or consistency like tooth-paste) in diameters of some microns:


In this image you can see an array of single doplets of high viscous UV-polymer with 30 microns diameter and around 10 microns height ... the droplet at the bottom is bigger- here I've placed 3 droplets on the same spot to show the scalability.

This '30µ' was made with a glass fiber of 30 microns diameter - with a 10µ fiber there would be 10 micron big droplets ... this can be scaled down to submicron sizes with nano-wires ... i have some 'nailheads' with around 20-100 nanometers tip diameter and 30 microns 'head' for handling with common micro-tools

The difference to dispensing through needles is the tricky base process - here we filed a patent and tried to sell the development and first samples to some companies around 2004, but without any success

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2012 03:29AM by VDX.

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

I've looked into extruding 'micro lines' but the problem I've had is the liquid never detaches from the tip, it happily rises up the tip end to form a large bulb like reservoir at the end. However I am trying to use fine tipped needles.

How did you address this issue?

I'm guessing treating the end to become hydrophobic would work, and a controlled burst of pressure would expel a certain volume of liquid. With the micrometer wire did you have it incontact with the surface to deposit the liqiud, Focusing on the dispensing method seems best as creating 3D objects using this method creates some interesting problems...

... I've used this 'drop-form-a-reservoir-problem' as basic principle - in the hole of a thin plate some mm above the surface I've set a droplet of the liquid, then feed a pin with the thin fibre on the tip through the droplet and push the tip through the bottom surface of the droplet and touch the surface with the wet tip.

The surface tension of the droplet will suck all liquid from the fibre surface, but the flat on the tip will stay wet, so you'll get a small droplet on the tip with the same diameter (im the above case 30 microns) as the fibre.

With coating the flat hygrophil and the fibre shaft hydrophob (or inverse for organic fluids) you can adjust the amount of fluid you'll get when punching through the 'reservoir-droplet' with higher accuracy.

Attached is the abstract page of the patent ...

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

quite an elegant solution, I like the idea of having a drop of the liquid and then passing the tip though it. Perhaps blasting the surface with a pulse of somesort to expel a thin liquid coated surface. Not sure how the technical side would work though :s I think i'll stick to using viscous liquids which hold their shape for the timebeing, as a starter.

... this 'through-punching' works with high viscous fluids too - you have only to move slower, so the 'shaft cleaning' can work.

In the image we used a liquid with maybe 10000 Mpa, but we checked the process with glues until 40000 MPa (between Dexpanthenol and toothpaste) too ...

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Sorry, slightly off the current direction..

I think Cathal Garvey (a bio technologist) did some initial work on reprapable lab gear.

With things like the Dremmel Centrifuge. (It was on thingiverse)

He also tried to do printable PCR trays etc but there can be issues getting the bottom layers to seal enough. I guess the rough surface texture could lead to cross run contamination as well.

Has anyone seen a design for a high res X Y table done yet ??

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Necessity hopefully becomes the absentee parent of successfully invented children.

... which resolutions do you need?

I've constructed some XY- and XYZ-stages with 'propagating wave' piezomotors from Piezoleg: - [www.micromo.com]

The stages have 23mm travelling range and 150nm resolution per 'step' but could be driven with sub-nanometer resolution too with analog controllers.

I have some 'naked' piezomotors and some assembled stages (and the drivers for them) ... waiting for some 'serious' jobs

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]