Hi Automation Friends!
I was told that PyLabRobot is in contact with Beckman already.
I was wondering, is it possible to share some ongoing information about this?
It would be awesome if this can be done soon.
Up until now, the existing BiomekControlLib can be used to control externally, but is very outdated.
Thanks for share ‘some’ info already!
Happy pipetting, Pete
yes, I had a conversation with the beck-man a while ago. he was very enthusiastic, but unfortunately it stopped at that. I would love to support their machines in plr, but I think the complexity of liquid handling robots almost necessitates having some kind of documentation.
I have been recommending people buy Hamiltons instead, which work great with PLR.
What would be needed exactly? You mentioned documentation, but what sort of documentation ?
documentation on how the firmware interface works
when you connect your computer to the biomek, it sends all commands over a usb cable. how are these commands sent and what is their format? how are parameters encoded?
we know the biomeks use a CAN interface for controlling individual motors. going from that to liquid handling operations such as aspirations might be very tricky without documentation on how this interface works. not impossible, just a lot of work.
Hey @rickwierenga I wanted to dredge this back up to see if there has been any updates or progress on this? We’ve got interest from one of the big pharmas to pick up a project on the Biomek i-series and step one might be getting a working PLR driver going.
If not, would you be willing to pass along your Beckman contact? I’m wondering if we had a significant Beckman customer on board they might be more motivated to help support our development here.
welcome to the forum!
unfortunately no progress…
I will introduce you