Abstract
Robotic positioning systems are used in a variety of chemical instruments, primarily for liquid handling purposes, such as autosamplers from vials or well plates. Here, two approaches to the design of open-source autosampler positioning systems for use with 96-well plates are described and compared. The first system, a 3-axis design similar to many low-cost 3D printers that are available on the market, is constructed using an aluminum frame and stepper motors. The other system relies upon a series of 3D printed parts to achieve movement with a series of linker arms based on Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA) design principles. Full printer design files, assembly instructions, software, and user directions are included for both samplers. The positioning precision of the 3-axis system is better than the SCARA mechanism due to finer motor control, albeit with a slightly higher cost of materials. Based on the improved precision of this approach, the 3-axis autosampler system was used to demonstrate the generation of a segmented flow droplet stream from adjacent wells within a 96-well plate.
Highlights
Hardware in contextMany modern chemical instruments include the use of autosamplers to introduce samples for analysis [1], including gas chromatographs (GCs), liquid chromatographs (LCs), mass spectrometers (MSs), capillary electrophoresis (CE) instruments, and flow injection analyzers (FIAs)
Robotic positioning systems are used in a variety of chemical instruments, primarily for liquid handling purposes, such as autosamplers from vials or well plates
Additional reports of 3-axis motion systems based on 3D printers that have been adapted for chemical research include mass spectrometry sampling [9,10], matrix deposition for matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) [11], chromatographic fraction collection [12], sample preparation and injection [13], applications in thin-layer chromatography (TLC) [14,15], and nucleic acid sample processing [16,17]
Summary
Many modern chemical instruments include the use of autosamplers to introduce samples for analysis [1], including gas chromatographs (GCs), liquid chromatographs (LCs), mass spectrometers (MSs), capillary electrophoresis (CE) instruments, and flow injection analyzers (FIAs). The movement of these samplers typically relies on either a 3-axis linear motion system or a 2-axis linear motion system with a third angular rotation mechanism, both with the goal of sampling specific positions in sample trays or well plates [1]. The systems are compared in terms of movement precision, and the 3-axis system is demonstrated for potential use in segmented flow microfluidic workflows
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