Re: [DIYbio] Re: Automation flow (was: BioPrinter won 1st Prize)

On Sat, Mar 2, 2013 at 10:01 PM, Jonathan Cline wrote:
> This keeps the individual lab devices relatively simple. And a lab could
> mix-and-match only those devices they need.

I think that the best case scenario is reducing the amount of "crap"
between servos/steppers, other actuators, and a usable not-locked-down
computer. Once you get control up to a general computer, it's not as
problematic to go for ethernet or bluetooth or gsm or whatever the
flavor of the week is.

One of the issues that keeps coming up when people talk with me about
lab automation is how to organize the locus of control of some system.
A propellor? arduino? raspberry pi? For most lab tasks, there's no
need for sub-microsecond timing, so you don't even need rtlinux and
could get away with a general-purpose computer. This has some
advantages like packages and you don't have to worry about manually
managing binaries on your ROM or whatever, except for the user-space
program that's running. It used to be that computers cost too much,
but computing and memory are very low cost these days, so I don't see
why not.. plus you can take advantage of programming time spent across
multiple systems, since most of these hardware projects turn out to be
very similar ("rotate 1/2pi, engage girder").

Jonathan, I think your experience as maintainer of Robotics::Tecan
uniquely positions you to have some informed opinions about how to do
libraries or development for lab hardware, and I think the community
would benefit from you ranting ("documenting") more. For instance, it
would be great if we could somehow convince, just as an example,
Dietrich at BioCurious, to use Robotics::Tecan (or something similar)
and maybe even something approaching a toolchain for compiling or
deploying ROMs... big dreams.

- Bryan
http://heybryan.org/
1 512 203 0507

--
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups DIYbio group. To post to this group, send email to diybio@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to diybio+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/diybio?hl=en
Learn more at www.diybio.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DIYbio" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to diybio+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to diybio@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/diybio?hl=en.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.