Re: [DIYbio] Isothermal microcalorimetry for bacterial activity.

 

Googling 'wheatstone bridge arduino instrumentation amplifier' gives this for top result:

Looks like the other search results to the arduino forums could be helpful too.

 

I can't say. It all depends on signal-to-noise, the detector will have some efficiency of converting heat (vibration/phonons or IR-type radiation) to signal (some number of electrons, some amount of voltage on those electrons)... and the amplification required and the scheme you amplify with will have their own noises associated. Some tricks can be done to reduce certain types of noise, while other kinds of noise might be unavoidable because of the detector or other project/application related constraints (i.e. does it work underwater, in a dry environment, carried around, attached to batteries or AC power, operated next to a heavy-duty motor, etc...).

 

You're on the right track! If you have a good straight-forward lab/bio protocol to follow, and you know what the results are, then I would recommend getting to the prototyping stage very soon. Don't over-analyze too much... get some results and then re-analyze again later, but that time you will have some facts to help guide your next decisions.

I have definitely let over-analysis cripple progress... overall I am OK with it because my long-term goals are quite complex from an engineering perspective... but along the way I've learned that I spent a lot more time thinking than doing, and these things should really go hand in hand. Come up with a hypothesis (i.e. "I think normal thermistors, an arduino, an intrumentation amp and wheatstone bridge will work to detect the K2CO3 + HCl reaction's heat") and test it... then when it fails you're no longer speculating... but hey, maybe it works and you don't waste tons of time 'rat-holing' and never actually experimenting.

:)

I will continue to answer electrical questions as much as I can!

Regards,

-Nathan