Re: [DIYbio] Cheaper OpenPCR

I suspect a cheaper heatsink and PSU are low-hanging fruit, here.
I would stick with a standard Arduino; as someone pointed out earlier,
in the €600 pricetag, €20 for an extremely well-supported and
easy-to-use chip isn't a big priority.

Removing the display on the front and relying entirely on faux serial
output would save some money, too. It's a nice feature, and I like being
able to plug out my laptop and have the program run regardless, but it's
still non-essential.

Heat block is probably not disposable. To get the right bores for PCR
tubes you practically have to get special drillbits machined. I recall
Josh or Tito wrote a blogpost on the OpenPCR.org blog about how you
don't screw around with your machinists, because heatblocks etc. are the
kind of component that you can't just knock together at home if you want
decent results.

That's especially true of the OpenPCR heatblock, which is (I think)
chrome-plated copper; that's pretty much as good as it reasonably gets.

Unless you want to use your own non-standard but
more-convenient-to-design-for tubes, I think that'll remain true;
heatblocks will have to be machined, and that'll cost moneys. Unless you
go with heated fluid/gas chambers, that is. I think that's still the aim
for the Amplino team?

On 01/10/12 16:41, Jeswin wrote:
> OpenPCR is a cool thing. The only thing is, it's still quiet expensive
> for a kit. Looking at the BOM Josh posted:
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiaWH3PL_9CndG1GbmtSZ1I3aGdkQkE4YVhwZ3o5c1E#gid=0
>
> I see that there are lots of parts. Can we build a simpler version,
> just like we have simpler Arduinos available? I assume the most
> expensive parts are the heat-block, PSU, microcontroller.
>
> Any ideas for simpler lid unit, cheaper heat-block, PSU, and MCU?
>

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