DIY liquid handling robots for integrated STEM education and life science research

Abstract

Automation has played a key role in improving the safety, accuracy, and efficiency of manufacturing and industrial processes and has the potential to greatly increase throughput in the life sciences. However, the lack of accessible entry-point automation hardware in life science research and STEM education hinders its widespread adoption and development for life science applications. Here we investigate the design of a low-cost (~$150) open-source DIY Arduino-controlled liquid handling robot (LHR) featuring plastic laser-cut parts. The robot moves in three axes with 0.5 mm accuracy and reliably dispenses liquid down to 20 μL. The open source, modular design allows for flexibility and easy modification. A block-based programming interface (Snap4Arduino) further extends the accessibility of this robot, encouraging adaptation and use by educators, hobbyists and beginner programmers. This robot was co-designed with teachers, and we detail the teachers’ feedback in the context of a qualitative study. We conclude that affordable and accessible LHRs similar to this one could provide a useful educational tool to be deployed in classrooms, and LHR-based curricula may encourage interest in STEM and effectively introduce automation technology to life science enthusiasts.

Child–Robot Interactions Using Educational Robots: An Ethical and Inclusive Perspective

“…Our previous work in [ 9 , 10 , 11 ] arises from a very positive international experience based on Lego Liquid Handlers that enable Do It Yourself (DOY) construction run by the Department of Bioengineering and led by the researcher Ingmar H. Riedel-Kruse [ 12 , 13 , 14 ] at Stanford University. Alternatively, OpenLH [ 15 ] offers block-based programming interfaces for DOY liquid handlers.…”

“…The biofluids in [ 17 ], for example, were scanned and printed using a desktop printer. However, in [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ], no gender considerations are made in the design of the software interfaces. In our work, we present open-source robots that can be easily created from scratch at low cost, enabling users without programming experience to easily automate a wide range of experiments.…”

“…Based on [ 12 , 13 ], we made the following improvements in the design of the liquid handling devices Lab and Lab2 Qui-Bot. Cuvette holders and extra LEGO pieces not included in the basic Mindstorms EV3 kit were designed and manufactured in 3D at a low cost to build the Lab Qui-Bot.…”

“…Through a Bluetooth wireless connection, communication with robots is possible in real-time using a PC, tablet, or phone. Lab/Lab2 Qui-Bot software does not use Lego’s rapid interface creation tool (Lego Mindstorms EV3 Home edition software) used by [ 12 , 13 ]. Lab and Lab2 Qui-Bots are monitored and programmed via a web interface, tailored to attract both boys and girls to computational thinking.…”

“…The software implementation of Lab/Lab2 Qui-Bot is provided and can be updated and adapted to meet the educational center’s needs. Planned activities, unlike those conducted in [ 12 , 13 ], allow the learning of computational languages by pressing a sequence of buttons that must be thought of a priori to be carried out (block-based programming). These buttons correspond to instructions that the robot executes in real time and the results of the instructions are very visual.…”