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Date
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Description
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31-Jan-2006
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Version 1.1.16
Hydra II
1. The process
which sends command packets to either the Hydra or eDrop has an
improved message indicating whether a disconnected port is due to the
Hydra or eDrop not being connected. Previusly the process reported
only that a port was disconnected.
Hydra II eDrop
1. The eDrop
Move command has been modified to remove an anomoly where changes to
another command elsewhere in a protocol sequence cause an eDrop Move
command to increment it's current well/sub well reference value. This
was causing the phenomenum where a run would work correctly the first
time it is loaded or created but any subsequent runs would ignore Z
axis heights or well locations but only if any other command in the
sequence was edited.
2. The eDrop
purge routine at the start and end of a run has been modified to
include a Z axis home command before moving to the wash location to
purge the residual liquid.
3. Corrected a
fault which was causing the current well/sub well selection to be
cleared in the case of specific heights being used and Test Mode
being selected within the eDrop Move command.
4. Resolved an
issue where, within the Set eDrop Options Add-In, attempting to Test
the Tip Bottom height directly after selecting to Search for an eDrop
device would generate an error explaining that the communications
port was unable to be opened. This was actually only true if the
eDrop device sat on an RS232 port that was higher in value than the
Hydra II device.
5. Changed the
captions for the overshoot field in the eDrop dispense command so
that they take up less room when viewed on the printed report or from
within the Global Values module. Previously all fields were prefixed
with 'Overshoot : Use standrad preset parameters : Fixed Overshoot'
or 'Overshoot : Use Custom parameters (use this option with caution'
which are far too long.
6. The Set
Drop Options Add-In has a new field, Purge Speed' which is used toset
the dispense speed for the routine that is run at the start or end of
a run when liquid is left remiaing in the bellows. The default value
is set to '100'.
7. The end of
run Purge routine that dispenses any residual liquid in the bellows
now uses the new Purge Speed parameter set in the Add-In Set edrop
Options dialogue.
8. The edrop
Dispense command has been modified to use the Dispense Speeds table
as defined in the associated Add-in dialogue. The current set
specific speed is used to override the dispense speed base dont he
specified volume entered. If the selected speed is too high than the
one specified in the dispense speed table then the speed is ignored
and instead the value from the dispense speed table is used in it's place.
9. A new
sequence rule has been added to the configuration file Hyrda_II.ini
which validates the total eDrop volume aspirated against the total
volume to dispense and warns the user if the dispense volume is too high.
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29-Jan-2006
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Version 1.1.15
Hydra II
1. Durind the
initialisation process at the start of a run, the eDrop will be
queried to determine if any liquid remains in the bellows. If the
edrop reports that residual liquid exists then the user is prompted
to either place a tube over the needle before contiuning or leaving
the needle free to purge the liquid into the waste vessel.
2. At the end
of a run the edrop purge routine is called in the same way as at the
start of a run.
3. The eDrop
purge routines are skipped if the reset piston setting is switched
off in the Hydra_II.ini file
4. At the
start of run during the initialisation cycle, if the user aborts or a
device error occurs, then the process is aborted and the Start button
is made available allowing the user to restart if they wish.
Previously the button was disabled and the run would continue until
it completed.
Hydra eDrop beta
1. Changing
the COMM port in the set eDrop options Add-In and then selecting to
Query Device will use the Comm port as previously specified.
previously the user would need to exit the dialogue and then repoen
it in order to use the changed comm port.
2. All buttons
that issue an immediate instruction to the device (Hydra or eDrop) in
the Add-In Set eDrop options window are disabled when they are
clicked until the command has completed.
3. The Needle
tip bottom height test in the Add-in set eDrop Options dialogue now
correctly switches betwene the eDrop RS232 port and the hydra II port.
4. The
well/sub well selection grid and the helper fields location have been
swapped within the eDrop move command to provide for a more natural
field navigation flow.
5. The eDrop
Dispense and aspirate commands now use the Overshoot parameter tables
to set up the entries for the Liquid Type drop down selection field.
This will consider which tables are available for the respective
edrop device type and the command usage (aspirate or dispense) and
only show liquid typs that match the criteria. If a command has no
matching criteria then a validation fail message is displayed warning
that no overshoot table can be found.
6. The tab
stop sequences wihtin the ad-In eDrop menus have been resequenced to
provide for a more natural navigation flow.
7. The eDrop
Overshoot and eDrop Dispense Speeds Add-in dialogues Update button
have been renamed to Apply. This automatically add the current entry
to the respective tables and save them to file.
8. The eDrop
Aspirate command now correctly sends the air gap volume to the eDrop
device and not to the hydra II device. Previously if the needle did
not need ot be raised then the eDrop command header was omitted formt
he packet issued ot the RS232 port.
9. The eDrop
move command will now display a validation failure message if no
wells or sub wells are selected.
10. The pump
speed fields for both the eDrop aspirate and eDrop Dispense fields
are now included as part of the vlaidation process. They have been
unbound from the associated slider conrols if their values are less
than the minimum allowed (normally '1').
11. The Prime
command was setting the current stage location field which was
causing a following eDrop Move command from correctly moving the Z axis.
12. The Add-in
Set eDrop Options window will now only set the fields for the
selected EMB device to their default values only of a device canot be
found or if a new device is being added. previously pressing Query
Device would reset all values back to their defaults.
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26-Jan-2006
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Version 1.1.14
Hydra II
1. File
Execute has been changed so that the correct address value is read
when the purge tips routine needs to be run at the start of a run if
liquid is in the syringes from a previous run process. Previously if
a 3 stage positioner was used the stage would not move to stage 1 but
would instead move to stage 3. View the notes for Test 1039 for
further information.
2. Plate
Library editor in Tools Options has been modified to correctly
process records in the event of deleting a plate from the library
that have associated sub wells. View the notes for Test 1038 for
further information.
3. Stage
positions for the Hydra and eDrop are maintained via the Position
Library editor in Tools Options. All positions are set to be allowed
for the Hydra or for the eDrop. View the notes for Test 1037 for
further information.
4. When a run
initializes ControlMate interrogates the hydra for it's version
number. If the response is not within the expected limits, ie version
4 upwards then the run is aborted and the user is informed of the
incompatible version number. Previously some circumstances the hydra
will respond with an empty or spurious data packet for runs that
immediately execute after a run has completed. This has been further
compounded by the fact that ControlMate was only checking the version
number once. The process has no been modified so that at the start of
a run, the Hydra is interrogated for it's version number and if not
found to be within a normal 'version' packet will retry up to 3 more
times before it fails. View the notes for Test 1074 for further information.
5. It was
reported that the Group command would allow for no more than 10,000
iterations. This is not true, the upper limit is 32,767 iterations.
View the notes for Test 1075 for further information.
6. The
validation time for iterations of more than 2000 loops takes from 2
minutes upwards. This is due to the current architecture of the
validation process and could only be remedied by a major change to
the way the process works or to incorporate it into ControlMate2 design.
Hydra eDrop beta
1. All
commands that use the eDrop Aspirate overshoot parameters have been
modified so that should a device/liquid type/volume combination be
selected for which there are no overshoot parameters defined then the
minimum values used for each respective overshoot parameters will be
used instead. This prevents the Aspirate error form being shown which
was being caused by the Overshoot Return Speed being set to zero in
the absence of relevant overshoot parameters. View the notes for Test
1044 for further information.
2. Waste pump
run time - this was reported as being missing from the eDrop Prime
command. This was found to not be the case since release 1.1.12. View
the notes for Test 1033 for further information.
3. Aspirate
and Dispense speed fields - were reported as being incorrect default
values in the eDrop Prime command. This was found not to be the case
since release 1.1.12. View the notes for Test 1034 for further information.
4. Set eDrop
Options needle operation delay and valve timings were reported to be
incorrect default values. This was found not to be the case since
release 1.1.12. View the notes for Test 1035 for further information.
5. eDrop Move
ability to Test the selected position and well/sub well from within
the Sequence Editor was reported to be not functioning. This was
found not to be the case since release 1.1.12. View the notes for
Test 1036 for further information.
6. eDrop Move
has been modified so that the correct well depth value is being used
when selecting to use the Preset Well Depth height. Previously it was
erroneously using the Y axis value. View the notes for Test 1073 for
further information.
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18-Jan-2006
11-Jan-2006
(pre-test release)
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Version 1.1.13
Hydra II
1. An updated
help file has been added to the build.
Hydra eDrop beta
1. The eDrop
Dispense command has been modified to provide new fields that enable
the user to either use the preset factory overshoot settings or to
define custom settings. Selecting the preset values will show the
current settings held on file for the current volume value selected
for the respective command. Changing the dispense volume when the
preset overshoot option is selected will load and display the
respective overshoot settings form the library file. If the custom
overshoot option is selected then changing has no effect on these
values. During the file execution process, the execute function will
check the status of the preset overshoot field and use the default
ones defined for the current dispense volume or will use the custom
values if this option has been specified. The additional usage of the
new fields are further enhanced by the use of the Global Values
module where the latter could be used to increment overshoot
parameter values wihtin a sequence file that is designed and used for
device calibration.
2. The
associated help file and screenshot files have been amended to
include the explanation for the new fields within the eDrop Dispense command.
3. The
Validate process has been updated to include the custom overshoot
field values to ensure that they are within the specific field
minimum and maximum limits. (test case 1015, 1016,1017,1018)
4. The
Validate process has been updated to include the custom overshoot
values (if selected) within the validation of the Specific volume
field. This will ensure that the sum of volume and the fixed
overshoot fields do not exceed the maximum volume capabilities of the
selected EMB device. (test case 1032)
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19-Nov-2005
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Version 1.1.12
Hydra II
1. An updated
help file has been added to the build.
Hydra eDrop beta
1. A new
parameter has been added to the Set eDrop Add-In which allows a user
to define the delay between polling status type command issued by
ControlMate when a command is actively being processed by the eDrop
device. The smaller the value the more often a command will be
issued, however this will increase the number of Tx packets written
to the transaction log file during a process which requires a longer
execution time, for example, when aspirating a large volume. A higher
delay value will increase the execution time but will reduce the
amount of Tx packets written to the log file. The default value for a
new installation is 100 milliseconds.
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27-Oct-2005
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Version 1.1.11
Hydra II
1. An updated
help file has been added to the build.
2. The Run
process has been modified to only initiate communication with the
eDrop device if a command exists within the current protocol that
required the use of the eDrop device. Previously this check was made
at the start of the run, however since the introduction of the
requirement to reset the eDrop device at the start of each run, the
reset routine was only checking if a device had been installed and
was not considering whether the device was actually required during
the current protocol.
Hydra eDrop beta
1. The eDrop
Aspirate command has been modified to ensure that the needle is
raised prior to aspirating an air gap (if applicable). To optimise
command processing, a logic guard is in place to only raise the
needle if it was previously in the lowered position and if an air gap
is specified.
2. The eDrop
Aspirate command has been modified to optimise command processing
such that it will only issue the command to lower the needle, prior
to the volume being aspirated, only if the needle is in the raised
position prior to the aspirate element of the command.
3. All
commands have been updated with their relevant help index pointer value.
4. Modified
the Set eDrop Overshoot Parameters Add-In to match the minimum and
maximum allowed limits for the Volume Ranger helper field.
5. The eDrop
Move command has been changed to show the selected position within
the command tree. This is saved with the command in the file as it's
caption which is therefore used in other objects such as the Run form
and Validation form.
6. eDrop Move
has been modified to reset the CurrentIndex register at the start of
each run. This value is used to determine the next well/sub well
offset during file execution. The register has also been moved from a
public interface to a private interface to ensure that the current
value is not written to file when the file is saved after file
execution. Previously the value was not being reset which was causing
the effect of loading once only. Therefore for following runs whilst
a file is open, well/sub well parameters were not loading. This gave
the effect of not moving to position or not moving to Z axis height.
In reality the latter was a red herring and the issue was that it was
simply not loading the values for the next column.
7. eDrop RS232
routine has been changed to reduce the amount of queries sent to the
eDrop device whilst a command is busy. The process will issue a
command and then query the completion status. If the eDrop replies
with a packet indicating that it is idle (i.e. the previous command
has completed) then ControlMate will issue the next command. If the
eDrop replies with an active status (i.e. the command hasn't
completed) then ControlMate will wait 1 second before querying the
eDrop idle status again. In addition to this, if the command has an
inbuilt eDrop pause (e.g. valve delay, pipettor delay) then it will
take this into account before considering querying the device status.
This has dramatically reduced the amount of redundant packets within
the log file and has probably reduced the amount of processing
overhead within the eDrop device itself.
8. The Add-In
Set eDrop Overshoot Parameters has been modified to allow the
maintenance of overshoot table parameters for system priming for both
aspirate and dispense actions.
9. The eDrop
System Prime command has been changed to support the new tables for
System Prime (aspirate and dispense) entries. This means that it is
now possible to have aspirate and dispense parameters for system
priming that are different to the standard aspirate and dispense
overshoot parameters.
10. The
EMB.ini file has been extended to support the new Overshoot parameter
tables for System Prime.
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13-Aug-2005
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Version 1.1.10
Hydra eDrop beta
1. Modified
the Set eDrop Device Add-In to match the minimum and maximum allowed
limits for the Fixed Overshoot parameters fields.
2. Updated the
method by which the logic used to search the installation library for
eDrop device settings determines whether or not a device has been
installed. Previously the logic would create incremental address
parameters for all device options and query them against the library
to check their validity. This was running until the device address
field limit was reached. This was causing the loop to run until 32767
devices which is not allowed. The logic has been changed to only
validate for addresses upto the maximum allowed, '15'. The previous
method was causing delays to ControlMate loading and Tools Options
user interface display.
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12-Aug-2005
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Version 1.1.9
Hydra II
1. Changed the
Abort run mechanism to force an abort all when the abort is generated
by a user clicking the Stop button. Previously the run would enter a
Pause state and the user would be prompted to Abort, Retry or Ignore
even if they had selected to Cancel a run at the abort confirmation
dialogue. In this release, if the user selects to Abort and then
confirms the run is aborted. The standard device abort sequence is initiated.
Hydra eDrop beta
1. The eDrop
Aspirate and Dispense commands have been modified to resolve an issue
where selection of liquid types other than the first liquid type in
the library was not being saved.
2. The end of
run tidy up has been modified to force the eDrop to halt the current
command at the end of a run. This is useful if the user has aborted
the run whilst the EMB was busy. Now the abort sequence will issue
the Halt to the EMB and then shut down elegantly by raising the
needle and then moving the stage to the home position.
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08-Aug-2005
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Version 1.1.8
Hydra II
1. The reset
device sequence has been modified to prevent a situation where an
installation for eDrop that has no eDrop switched on prevents the
start of run processing. The reset device sequence is used to ensure
that the stage is at the home position and is a generic routine
called when starting a run (if required) or upon exiting Test mode or
after an abort. Previously, if this process was called and the eDrop
was not switched on then the run would not action any commands.
Hydra eDrop beta
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02-Aug-2005
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Version 1.1.7
Hydra II
1. The Plate
library editor in Tools - Options - Plates tab has been modified to
improve the selection logic for the creation of sub well locations.
Sub wells are expected to be positioned contiguously starting from
the top left position to the right and down the grid. Therefore it is
not allowed to enter a value in the third cell on the top row if the
2nd cell is empty. Entering values on the 2nd row will also expect
contiguous entries from the 1st column with the additional constraint
that the cell immediately above cannot be empty. Deleting a cell will
also delete all subwells immediately following the cell to the right
and below and to the right. Entering a blank value into the 1st cell
(top left) will force the entry to a value of '1'. Entering a value
on the 2nd row will replicate all values to the right for any empty
cell if the cell immediately any following empty cell is not empty.
2. Changing
the sub well count field in the plate library editor will reapply the
sub well input logic mentioned in (1) above with the additional
constraint that any sub well values in the grid that are greater than
the number of sub wells specified will remove the sub well entry in
the location grid. For example setting the grid to 1,2,3,4 and then
specifying that there are only 2 sub wells will delete the entries
for 3 and 4. The rules will then cascade as explained in (1).
Hydra eDrop beta
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20-Jul-2005
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Version 1.1.6
Hydra II
1. The Hydra
II ini library file has been replaced with a new one containing
updated stage calibration heights.
2. Defining a
new vessel type, via Tools - Options - Plates tab, that have sub
wells will now set the initial sub well to '1' instead of zero. This
is then used as the default value for subsequent use by eDrop Move
and Hydra II Move commands.
3. When
editing sub wells in the Tools - Options - Plates tab, logic has been
added to control how sub well positions are input. Entering a value
which is between 1 and 6 inclusive is allowed. Entering a valid sub
well value into a position that has no adjacent sub well location
value in the cell immediately above or to the left will be ignored.
Deleting a sub well value will automatically delete all sub wells to
to the right and below the deleted sub well. Deleting a sub well that
has a value to the left of and above the current cell sets the
current cell value to the one immediately to the left of the current
cell. This means that sub well positions have to be entered in
adjacent cells from the top left corner. deleting the top left corner
sets the sub well to 1.
4. The end of
TestMode and Abort Run reset device process will attempt to raise the
eDrop needle if an eDrop is connected and it has been previously lowered.
Hydra eDrop beta
1. The RS232
serial port command processor for the eDrop commands has an increased
timeout value for incoming commands. The process which controls the
opening and closing of the RS232 port for the eDrop now utilizes the
in built process for determining if repeat packets are being
received. This is to add resilience for PC's where modem adapter
cards echo local command packets when the eDrop routine searches fro
attached devices.
2. The eDrop
RS232 serial port searching function has been modified to optimize
the 'Stop' searching process. Previously the stop would only stop for
the current port/device list, therefore if the stop button was
clicked at device 1 then the process would run until device 15 before stopping.
3. The process
which checks the usage of an eDrop device has been extended to work
in conditions when a device is selected that does not have an eDrop
module fitted. For example the 2 and 3 stage X/Y standard Hydra II
library settings. Previously the check process which is used to
determine whether or not an eDrop is connected was recognizing that
the library entry had no eDrop connected but was only setting the
internal register to false if the library setting showed that no
eDrop devices had been found. This meant that when the user selected
an installation that was meant to have an eDrop attached then it was
correctly identifying that no eDrop was required for the current
protocol. However, if the user chose a device setting that did not
specify any eDrop hardware as attached then the process was not
setting the internal flag which meant that subsequent calls to the
start of run process was trying to communicate with the eDrop device
(which by definition of the device library selection was missing) and
therefore causing communication error messages. This has been
resolved. The process no sets the internal register for device status
regardless of whether the eDrop is attached because of the library
setting or not. This means that protocols can be written for
instances which have no eDrop physical devices or for instances where
an eDrop is installed but not used or is installed and is used
without needing different software modules.
4. The default
delay for eDrop needle up and needle down, held in the emb.ini
configuration library file, has been set to 2000 ms.
5. The
TestMode within the eDrop Move command has been enhanced to now lower
the needle once it has moved to the required position. At the end of
the movement the needle remains lowered. When the user decides to
exit Test mode the needle is raised before the stage is moved to the
Z, X and Y axis home positions.
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15-Jul-2005
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Version 1.1.5
Hydra II
1. The RS232
processing routine has been modified to check for duplicate packet
received. This means that if the packet received from the device is
the same as the packet sent then the session will generate an error.
This phenomenon occurs for PC's where a null modem or virtual
modem/comm port echoes the characters sent thus causing session
timeout loops.
Hydra eDrop beta
1. The Tools -
Options - Plates tab has been modified so that when a user enters a
any sub well position value, into the sub well grid, that is not an
integer between 1 and 6 (inclusive), it will be ignored.
2. The eDrop
Move command has been modified to deal with Sigmoidal sub well
selection of non adjacent sub wells for 'S' patterns by row. For
example selecting all sub well 1's. Previously, doing would correctly
select the subwells in the first row, then would attempt to select
all in the next row. If the plate format was one which didn't have
the same sub well numbers in the next row then it would move to the
next row. However, the logic process which determined the well
selection sequence would have moved back to the next row counter
rather than skip down a row to select those which do contain the next
sub well numbers. This was causing a standard column selection in the
same movement as a type writer, for example first to last column row
1, then instead of last to first (as defined by the sigmoidal
pattern) it would move back tot he first column and move to the last
again instead of in reverse sequence. This has been remedied by an
additional internal register which for each row will record whether
or not a well/sub well was actually selected. If the case is true
then it will increment the row counter, reverse the column increment
register and select in the reverse sequence as previously used (ie
therefore providing the sigmoidal movement). If a sub well is not
selected in the current row it simply does not reverse the column
increment registers meaning that it will repeat the same column
movement as should have been selected if a well was found only on the
next row. This logic has also been applied to selection by column as well
3. The eDrop
Move command has been modified to ensure that the needle is raised
and the stage moved tot he Z axis home position before moving to a
new stage position. This is applied regardless of whether a previous
eDrop Dispense command had set the fast dispense mode and is designed
to ensure that if the protocol moves the stage to a new 'position'
that the needle is moved out of the way before moving the stage to
prevent tip damage.
4. The
protocol sequence file, eDrop Daily Prime.cms, has been added to the
sample files library.
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11-Jul-2005
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Version 1.1.4
Hydra II
1. The
Hydra_II.ini configuration file has been updated to allow for the
Devices library to use an additional parameter, index 5, that
specifies whether the associated device library entry support an
eDrop device. For example, a Base Model Hydra II has this value set
to zero (ie no eDrop) whereas the 2 position X/Y stage with eDrop has
the value set to 1 (eDrop attached).
2. The
Hydra_II.ini configuration file has been updated to include the
extended positioner settings for the Base Hydra II and the Auto Wash
device types. These were previously omitted from the list when the
eDrop library extensions were added which prevented the devices type
from allowing command selection for different positions if these
devices were selected.
3. The Run
process has been modified to check if an eDrop command is used
anywhere in the protocol. If an eDrop command is not used then the
eDrop RS232 port is not opened and an internal register is set that
all other commands check when determining whether or not to issue EMB commands.
4. The Hydra
Home, Move, Mix, wash Tips commands have all been changed to use the
new method of ignoring eDrop specific statements if eDrop commands
are not used in the protocol.
5. The Run
user interface has been modified to specify which device is causing
the connection problem in the case where either the Hydra or the
eDrop has not been switched on. In the latter example, this is only
checked if the eDrop is require dint he current protocol.
6. The
Hydra_II.ini configuration file has been updated to include a non
eDrop 3 stage positioner device in the available devices list.
Hydra eDrop beta
1. The eDrop
Move command now saves the 'helper' fields for Height selection
(Radio buttons for preset and specific, preset drop down list value
and specific height field value). The option has not been applied to
the multiple select fields as these are dynamic and change according
tot he vessel type loaded. To set the value of the default fields,
the Tools - Options - Command tab should be used.
2 The eDrop
Move command has been changed to always set the 'ANeede' internal
validation flag. If the position is to move to the wash location then
the 'AtWash' flag is also set. This will allow a protocol to dispense
into the wash position via the dispense command. Previously the
validation rule was preventing this since the 'AtNeedle' parameter
was not being set.
3. The Hydra
II.ini and EMB.ini configuration files have been updated with new
height and needle movement delay parameters.
4. The generic
function, IsEMBInstalled(), now checks the new library parameter
value explained in Hydra II item 3 above to determine if an eDrop
device is attached.
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07-Jul-2005
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Version 1.1.3
Hydra II
1. Changed the
search process when determining which RS232 communication port the
Hydra II device is attached. Previously the process would loop
through the ports but would not find the device if a port was
previously in use. The process now forces the closure of any
communication port before querying it.
2. The Hydra
II RS232 communications port search process now adds entries to the
transaction log file, portlog.txt, to provide more feedback for
offline analysis of comm port searching failures.
3. The Tools -
Options - Positions option will now apply a delay for lowering and
raising the eDrop needle if a previous position move has lowered the
needle. The values used fro the delay are as those set via the Set
eDrop parameters Add-In option for both the lower needle and raise
needle delay fields.
4. The Move
command now shows the correct preset depth if a sub well is selected
and the preset height option is active. Previously, this field was
not using the selected sub well depth.
5. The Hydra
II.ini file has been updated with new offset and position parameters.
6. New sample
protocol files have been added to the sample files library.
Hydra eDrop beta
1. Changed the
search process when determining which RS232 communication port the
eDrop device is attached. Previously the process would loop through
the ports but would not find the device if a port was previously in
use. The process now forces the closure of any communication port
before querying it.
2. The eDrop
RS232 communications port search process now adds entries to the
transaction log file, portlog.txt, to provide more feedback for
offline analysis of comm port searching failures
3. The eDrop
Move command now sets internal flags to identify if the stage has
moved to the needle for pipetting or for washing. This is then used
in conjunction with new rules added to the Hydra II.ini file to check
and validate for moving to the needle prior to aspirate, dispense or
wash. The standard rules engine is then used to display a message to
the user, and to invalidate the file, if any of these rules are broken.
4. New rules
added to the Hydra II.ini file : EDROPASPIRATEMOVE, EDROPDISPENSEMOVE
Aand EDROPWASHMOVE.
5. The eDrop
Wash command now shows the relevant values for the Position and
Vessel Type fields. Previously, since the device was renamed to
eDrop, the fields were empty which, since they are drop down
selection boxes, prevented a user form correctly washing the needle.
The cause was that the ini file had not been updated for the changed
device name for the wash positions (ie they were still Needle wash
instead of the expected eDropWash).
6. The eDrop
Prime command has a new field, Waste run time, which when it has a
value greater than zero milliseconds will run the drain pump at the
end of the final cycle.
7. The EMB.ini
file has been updated with new liquid handling parameters.
8. New sample
protocol files have been added to the sample files library.
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|
27-Jun-2005
|
Version 1.1.2
Hydra II
1. The Move
command has been modified to use the new format database for sub well offsets.
2. All
commands that move the stage positioner have been modified to raise
the needle if it is in the lowered positioned.
3. The abort
process now switches off the pump module if any motor is running.
4. The Plate
library editor now presents the sub well position grid as a fixed
grid size. The rows and columns fields have been removed. This is to
simplify the input of sub well positions. Now all the user has to do
is to simply click on the grid where sub wells are located and the
software will determine matrix size etc.
Hydra eDrop beta
1. The Needle
Move command has been modified to allow the selection of all rows or
columns when using the multi-select option rather than alternate rows
or columns. This works for both linear row and column selection as
well as sigmoidal.
2. The Needle
Aspirate command has been modified to support the non percentage
values of pump speed requirement.
3. The Needle
Prime command now no longer runs the waste pump.
4. The Needle
Wash routine now only switches on the waste pump at the start of the
last cycle in the main loop. If the protocol specifies a volume, then
the pump will run during this process as well.
5. The Needle
Move Command has been modified to allow for Test Mode usage. During
this mode state, the stage will move to the first well/sub well
selected only.
6. All command
modules have been renamed to use the eDrop device prefix.
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|
13-Jun-2005
|
Version 1.1.1
Hydra II
Hydra eDrop beta
1. The drop
down lists for the Liquid type field on both the Aspirate and
Dispense commands were not registering that the field had changed and
therefore not saving the user selection if anything other than the
first entry in the table was selected. This has been modified to
select the _click method when a user makes a change.
2. The Liquid
Type within the Set EMB Overshoot Parameters Add-In option was
incorrectly setting the initial character to the table entry to an
ASCII character 24 instead of a quote mark (ASCII character 34). This
was causing a 'square box' character to be prefixed to the liquid
type name. This now correctly prefixes a quote character.
3. The EMB.ini
file has been amended to replicate the 'EMB_Overshoot_n' tables.
Originally the 'EMB_Overshoot' table only had entries for the first
two tables (1 and 2) These have now been replicated to match the
corresponding EMB_Overshoot table list value.
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|
10-Jun-2005
|
Version 1.1.0
Hydra II
Hydra eDrop beta
1. Hydra Plus
One renamed to Hydra eDrop.
2.
InstallShield build modules option changed to show Hydra eDrop as a
product instead of Hydra Plus One
3. The
DeviceType EMB.ini look up table used when searching and determining
which EMB unit is attached has been modified to use a nominal maximum
value that is half way between a known product size type and the next
one in the table. This way the search routine will search up to and
including the half way point to determine which device type it is.
Anything up to and below the half way value is the lower model,
anything above and to the next half way value is the next model up.
4. The
[EMB_DeviceType] EMB.ini device captions have been renamed from 'EMB
nnn' to 'eDrop nnnn ul', eg 'EMB 500' is now 'eDrop 500 ul'.
5. The
overshoot tables entries have been duplicated, using the entries from
EMB 150 as a base, to ensure that zero values are not returned for
device types that have not as yet been calibrated.
6. The Add-Ins
menu item captions of 'Set EMB...' have been renamed to 'Set eDrop...'
7. A new pause
value, Pipettor delay, has been added to the 'Set eDrop device
options', which when containing a non zero value is used as a delay
in milliseconds after an aspirate or dispense action before a valve
is switched. If a valve is not to be switched then the pause is
ignored to save time.
8. The
Aspirate, Wash, Prime commands have been updated to utilise the new
Pipettor Delay value. This is only used if valve switching is
required and is appended to the end of the aspirate/dispense action.
9. The run
process now adds the module name and version to the port log file as
part of the 'Start run' record.
10. The Plate
library editor has been modified to replace the captions of sub well
height and width to be a more meaningful 'X size' and 'Y size' respectively.
11. The Plate
library editor has been modified to change the way an underlying
process for retrieving the sub well elements items from the ini file
sub well table. Previously the sub well position information was
incorrectly calculating it's index value when loading a sub well
record following a sequence of selecting a plate type that had no sub
well records. The effect was that the sub well index value (ie sub
well 1 top left, 2 top right, 3 bottom left, etc) was incorrectly
setting the positions in memory. This has the effect of pushing any
subsequent field values out by the product of rows and columns.
Basically the wrong value were being loaded which caused the
NanoNeedleMove routine to incorrectly load the X/Y offset values.
This would only happen if the sub well record was loaded directly
after loading a record with no sub wells. If the previous plate had
sub wells then the record was loaded correctly.
|
|
22-May-2005
|
Version
1.0.26, Hydra Plus One 1.0.22 beta
1. Now
includes Hydra Plus One module.
2. The Set EMB
Device Options Add-In menu item has been modified to improve the
search mechanism for identifying connected EMB devices. Previously
the routine would incorrectly report a device as attached if another
similar device was found on the port. The routine now shows the
current port being searched and starts from the initial value loaded
when the window is opened before reverting back tot he search from 1
to 16 if no EMB specific device is found on the initial port.
3. The search
and query mechanism within the Set EMB Device options dialogue will
now correctly identify the device type. previously the RS232 comms
routine would report the previous comm packet value if no device was
found or if the communication was slow which was causing the EMB type
identification routine to incorrectly use the wrong values to
determine the device type. The process has been changed to ensure
that the communication packets stay in synchronization.
4. The
NanoNeedlePrime command has been modified to include two new fields
which allow for the user to specify whether to lower (the default) or
raise the needle during operation. This would now allow for priming
at the upper position rather than always lowering the needle.
|
|
09-May-2005
|
Version 1.0.25
1. The Tools -
Options - Plates dialogue has been modified to provide an interface
by which the sub well parameters for the crystalography type plates
can be entered.
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|
26-Apr-2005
|
Version
1.0.24
1.
The main RS232 serial port process for controlling the opening and
closing of a port has been streamlined to allow for device specific
actions. This means that the port process will be called per device
type (Hydra or EMB). Previously the routine was a combined process
where calling a port action would invlove both ports for a Hydra and
an EMB (if applicable). This previously resulted in a device packet
conflict where a call for opening a Hydra port would hang if an EMB
was not present and vice versa. Allowing for specific control is
handled by passing an O/S message to the RS232 process object which
then determines which device would have control. This has resulted in
faster processing and a more resilient error capturing technique
should a device not be available.
2.
All commands that require direct control for port activation (eg
Configuration dialogue) have been modified to use the new process as
described in (1) above.
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|
31-Mar-2005
|
Version
1.0.23
1.
Single well labware now catered for (tubes and needle wash). This is
now represented by additions to the plate library (new labware types
of NEEDLE and NEEDLEWASH which are not available for selection in the
standard Move command but are within the Nano Needle Command set).
2.
All new X/Y address values added to the Hydra II ini file position
library using the new mm XY stage step value (0.00847 mm/step).
3.
All Hydra and Hydra Plus One commands have been updated to use the
new larger format XY address values (changing the step factor took
the address values over the maximum allowed for variables within the
source code for the 3 position stage).
4.
The new Hydra device types for Hydra 2 stage, HPO 2 stage, HPO 3
stage have been written to the device library and are now available
for selection from the standard Hydra add-in.
5.
RS232 port conflict of USB drivers unloading themselves when a port
is closed has been resolved as much as can be tested. The rs232
serial port ControlMate routine has been amended to unload any
residual characters from the port before the port is closed.
6.
Tools Options Position editor has been optimised for speed when
teaching positions. The buttons simply ignore requests if they are
clicked whilst a previous move is still in progress. Previously the
buttons were disabled and then reenabled when a teach command was
selected. This slowed down the interface.
7.
The Tools - Options - Plate Library editor has been updated to
support the Needle and Needle wash type labware. This has also meant
that the well count drop down has been modified to allow for single
well vessels.
|
|
30-Mar-2005
|
Version
1.0.22
1.
The hydra positioner X and Y axis step factor has been changed to
0.00849 mm per step. This resolves the well to well positioning as
the previous factor was incorrect. This is simply held in the
hydra_ii.ini file and so requires no program change.
2.
The Hydra start of run process which checks the piston address and
then starts a purge routine if it is found to be non zero now has a
guard, set via the Device.PreRunResetPiston Hydra_II.ini file flag,
which when switched on (value = 1) will perform the reset as before,
or when switched off (value = 0) will skip the piston reset process.
The default value for those installations which want to use this
version but not change their ini file is to switch the process on,
this way it performs exactly as it has always down (i.e. reset the
piston). Since the parameter is held externally, OLE applications can
be used to set the value on or off prior to calling the
ControlMateOLE.ExecuteRun() function.
3.
The generic function that is used to determine stage address value
from a given mm value will now set any passed negative values as zero.
4.
The Tools - Options process which requires RS232 port operation has
been modified to open the port only on the first time requested, for
example when moving to the first teach position. All subsequent
movements will ensure that the port is left open and will therefore
be faster and should also prevent the EMB USB drivers (if installed)
from unloading themselves. If the dialogue is closed then the port,
if it was previously opened, will be closed.
5.
The EMB scanning functionality has been removed from the Tools -
Options - Connection tab.
6.
The Tools - Option - Positions tab now has the facility to raise and
lower the Nano Needle if an EMB is attached.
|
|
25-Mar-2005
|
Version
1.0.21
1.
The routine that is called when a RS232 comm port is opened has been
modified to prevent the process from overwriting the device selected
settings (eg 3 stage X/Y positioner).
|
|
24-Mar-2005
|
Version
1.0.20
1.
The plate library has been extended to include a new NEEDLEWASH
type. The current parameters are set to a minimum of 5mm default for
testing purposes. This vessel type can only be used by the NeedleWash
and NeedlePrime commands.
2.
A fully functional NeedlePrime command has been added. New fields
have been included in this field to allow a user to specify a
position, vessel type and height. Only values that are relevant to
needle washing are shown in these fields.
3.
The Set Pipettor Add-In has been modified to remove the Stage
Positioner field added yesterday. Instead a new parameter has been
added to the Device library section of the Hydra_II.ini file to point
to the relevant [Positioner_n] library for the selected device item
which is referenced via the 'Device' field in this user dialogue. The
underlying generic procedure which retrieves the currently installed
positioner id has been modified to use the [Device].default entry.
All commands that use this procedure have been recompiled to use the
new methodology.
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|
23-Mar-2005
|
Version
1.0.19
1.
The Stage Position library has been extended to allow for different
stage positioner types (eg 2 stage positioner and 3 stage
positioner). The [Position] entry in the file Hydra_II.ini has been
replaced with [Positioner]. This uses a sub item, 'Installed', which
indicates which positioner library entry settings to use. Two new
library sections have been added, '[Positioner_2]' and
'[Positioner_3]' which now contain the actual stage address values
previously contained within the [Position] library.
2.
The 'Change Pipettor or Tips' Add-In option has been amended to
allow the setting of the Stage Positioner type.
3.
All commands have been modified to use the new [Positioner] library database.
4.
The Move command has been modified to issue a needle raise command
if an EMB device is attached and the needle is in it's lowered state.
5.
The Move command has been modified to remove any stage positions
used by the Hydra Plus One module. Moves to a Single Nano Needle
stage position must now use the new NeedleMove command.
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|
22-Mar-2005
|
Version
1.0.18
|
