STARFirmware Error: Squeeze drive initialization failed

General
1

Hi!
I’m working with a Hamilton STAR with the product number 173000/00. When setting up the robot, I am getting the error STARFirmwareError: {'CoRe 96 Head': HardwareError('Squeezer drive initialization failed')} C0EIid0008er99/00 H002/65
Any thoughts on how to resolve this error? When using Venus, the intialization of the 96 head was working without error.

2

what is the firmware command giving this error? can you share the log

3

Here’s the log output from the most recent INFO: line:

INFO:pylabrobot:Sent command: C0EIid0016xs02520xd1yh1300za1890ze2450
DEBUG:pylabrobot:Starting reading thread...
DEBUG:pylabrobot:Received data: bytearray(b'')
DEBUG:pylabrobot:Received data: bytearray(b'')
DEBUG:pylabrobot:Received data: bytearray(b'')
DEBUG:pylabrobot:Received data: bytearray(b'')
DEBUG:pylabrobot:Received data: bytearray(b'C0EIid0016er99/00 H002/65')
DEBUG:pylabrobot:Received response: C0EIid0016er99/00 H002/65
DEBUG:pylabrobot:Reading thread stopped.
4

the firmware command should be xs00420xd1yh1203za2290ze2450 (like it is when generated by venus) and as far as i can see on plr:main it is that.

could you share the output of git rev-parse HEAD run in your clone of the pylabrobot repo?

you mentioned that you changed the y location. did you change the x-location as well? xd1 means to search left of the origin, and xs2520 means 252mm (2.5) left of the origin, which is definitely outside the frame of the robot. As you can see above, it should be 42.0mm (420 [0.1mm]). xs2520 was actually the location before the fix i pushed this morning (fix 96 head trash · PyLabRobot/pylabrobot@bad8f01 · GitHub)

sometimes the firmware error messages are a bit confusing. it could be that this incorrect location gives the “squeezer drive error”

5

The output of git rev-parse HEAD is

bad8f01000edc94ab20833de44cc7e5e4d798792

6

good that’s the latest version

7

for posterity: this turned out to be a hardware issue

8

can you elaborate on what the hardware issue turned out to be? i’m running into a similar error, which i also suspect is due to a hardware issue.

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9

unfortunately that’s all I know. maybe @Mackenzie or @adit have more information? reading back from email, they had the same issue when running it through venus and it looks like nugget was able to service it.

one thing to check is that your trash location is set correctly

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10

(for single channels): the tip ejector sheaths are secured in by a single small upside-down screw into each pipette. if that screw is loose, the ejector sheath will be lower and cover the tip squeezer physically, preventing the squeezer drive from initializing
if you’re having the issue on a 96ch head, maybe there is an equivalent use-related physical issue

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11

WRT Ben’s helpful suggestion, according to our service technician these screws have a specific torque rating for proper function. I interpret that to mean at the very least be careful to avoid over tightening.

Also for posterity/future readers, we have encountered squeezer issues like this twice so far. One instance was the motor burning out controlling the squeezer drive– I fixed it by swapping the pipette channel. The other was damage to the flat communication ribbons between the pipette module and the channel– This was fixed by swapping the ribbons, after quite a lot of trial and error.

In the case where one has STAR Service software available, running Single Commands for the suspect module also easily helps diagnose method versus hardware failure.

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