Re: [DIYbio] Why doesn't someone engineer a simple _____?

As an engineer who builds these kinds of things, my answer is that building something simple especially in low volumes is very difficult.  A lot of people fall into the trap of thinking "hey, I can buy an android phone for $300 bucks, why cant I buy a pcr machine?".  Mostly it has to do with scale, and expectations.

A PCR machine is easy to build, in quantity one, if you are an engineer/scientist/etc.  Especially if you have an epic cruft stash, like I do.  Now scaling that to 100 units, and making it look good is hard.  Who is going to screw them together? package them?  Even passing that knowledge on to someone else so they can build their own is hard.

Just my two cents here.

--A

On Fri, Aug 22, 2014 at 8:55 PM, Jonathan Cline <jnc...@gmail.com> wrote:

Light bulb PCR thermocycler/incubator has been discussed here before.  Cathal built one and shared pics.   The unfortunate aspect of this group is that somewhere along the line the builder decides "Oh, I'll use an Arduino" and it starts being more expensive and complex than needed.    So the real answer to "Why doesn't someone engineer a simple ____" is because the group in general has not performed good requirements analysis as needed for a minimal design to end up with something "simple".


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On Friday, August 22, 2014 12:16:06 AM UTC-7, Patrik D'haeseleer wrote:

Yeah - or just google "DIY incubator". Tons of designs out there, usually including a portable cooler, a heat source (light bulb or heating pad), and a simple thermostat circuit. Heck, there's plenty of small academic labs using DIY incubators as well...

Patrik

On Thursday, August 21, 2014 9:27:06 AM UTC-7, David wrote:

actually I was quoting someone else there. 

I was the one pointing to a cheap temperature controlled lizard terrarium and asking if it would suit his needs. 

As with many things: if you want something specialist it'll tend to be expensive. if you want something stamped out by the million it can be remarkably cheap. 

On Thu, Aug 21, 2014 at 4:51 PM, John Griessen <jo...@industromatic.com> wrote:

On 08/21/2014 02:13 AM, David Murphy wrote:> "I've even made one myself, but it's ugly, and it sucks. Why doesn't someone engineer a simple circuit with a heating element, a
> box, and a temperature controller and sell it for $100 or $200 dollars?  I'd buy it tomorrow when I get payed. "

I've asked about signing up to buy equipment like that here on this list and gotten
a lot of silence before.  It may be because there are not enough buyers on this list.
Finding the buyers is a tough thing.  Scientists can be very focused and even
though they'd like some better bang per buck in lab gear, they don't seem to spend much time
on it.  Scientists often say, "Oh, that's trivial..." as an excuse not to spend time on it.

Prove me wrong and work out lists of features you all would like to buy.  Then there's that comment,
"tomorrow -- when I get paid", that seems to be about a low budget.