App
Search “BIOV” on your iPad
in Apple App Store
There is a Python API available with lot of scripts for Scientific Python for those who wish to control a single device or a cluster of them directly from a PC over a network
Protocol view on the App
The Minicube PCR can operate in 3 modes. Direct Access mode – Wifi mode and LAN mode
Three protocols are shown:
“95 incub”,
“Mucin5B H937”
“Rapid – 2 stage PCR”
Toucing the “>” sign at the right will create an experiment (protocol + selected device + selected tubes on selected device) and one have to select device and select tubes and send the experiment to the device
To create a new protocol press the new doc icon at the top right
There are 3 ways to connect the iPad to the device
Direct Access mode – after the device has booted (The 16 front LEDs stop blinking) – hold down the wifi button on the front-foil of the device for 3 seconds – it will start to blink – the device now creates its own local network that you can connect to in the control panel of your iPad under networks (no credentials needed – just connect). The iPad and the device now form a closed network with each other
Wifi Access Mode – (default mode) after the device is booted it will use Bluetooth to show up in the app under devices – configure the device to your wifi network. iPad and device has to be connected to the same network
LAN Access Mode – (default mode if you insert a LAN cable) after the device is booted it will show up in the app under devices. iPad and device has to be connected to the same network
The Protocol Editor where you an enter a name and a description of your protocol. The interface is self-explanatory – just click around and you will soon be accustomed to using it – tip: swiping up on a stage reveals a delete button in red (but you can also just click the delete icon in the left corner of the stage).
A phase has minimum one stage which cannot be deleted
Tap the stage to set the temperature
Nomenclature for creating a protocol:
Stage: a temperature stage is defined by a temperature and a time. It also holds other features as variable time and variable temp but they are not activated yet in the app.
Phase: a phase is defined as a set of stages that can be repeated. A phase contains as a miniumum 1 stage, maximum is 99.
Tapping the temperature red line in the stage brings up the editor for the stage details where it is possible to set temperature and time
(delta temp and delta time – is not implemented in the app yet)
An experiment consists of a protocol and a selection of wells on a device. In the experiment designer one can select a protocol and a device – and secondly select the wells on the device
– a device will show what wells are available and not running an experiment
Pressing “Devices” at the bottom right of the screen or “Select Device” in the experiment designer brings up the device list and reveals which wells are currently unused(white background). Here a number of devices are available:
Minicubepcr-000021, Minicubepcr-000023, Minicubepcr-000022, Minicubepcr-000025
(the digit represents last half of the MAC address of the device)
Pressing the sound icon will make the selected device beep shortly – to help locating it
Selecting a device in the Experiment Designer will make the device appear in the designer and the available wells are shown with cyan circle – whereas wells used in other experiments will be greyed
Touch the wells you want to use for the experiment to use select them. Here two wells are selected – cyan filled color
After the Experiment has been designed – press RUN in the upper right corner. The experiment is compiled as a JSON message and commited to the device which notifies you that it has been commited, and that the selected tubes are functional.
To run the experiment you will have to press the top “play” button on the front foil of the device (see the picture of the frontfoil below)
And now you can see the experiments are running on the two selected wells 1 and 9.
The % progress will be replaced with Phase and Cycle numbers in the next revision of the App.
Below a demonstration of the app – we replaced the voice record with some lyrics to Blondies song “Sunday Girl”.
After all – the app is so easy to use that you do not need a demo.
But here it is anyway