Team Members
Dalton Newberry, Alexander Diraviam, Julien Duytsche, Logan Piper, Stephen Lawrence, Tyler Dunn, Courtney Chesser
Abstract
The AutoMOM (Autonomous Modularly Organized Microbioreactor) is a device that cultures cells under temperature, gas, and liquid stressing conditions, completely free of user interaction. The AutoMOM team is passionate about optimizing modularity and device autonomy to drive our autonomous bioreactor to require the least user interaction and highest experimental customizability of any comparable product, economically driven by ease of use. This design incorporates four modular incubation units, each with independent temperature and gas control. The tileable units allow the machine to be easily customized for unique user needs, with each additional incubator module able to independently run and monitor an experiment with unique environmental conditions. The incubation chambers are designed to be neatly packed together, creating a compact system that optimizes limited space on a laboratory table. The incubators feature variable shaking speed and customizable shaking patterns. The motors used to drive the shaking plate can be programmed to shake in any two-dimensional pattern, a feature currently unavailable on the market, thereby laying the groundwork for new types of shaking-related and aeration experiments. Heavy emphasis is given to autonomous electronic control, gas movement and waste management, enabling the AutoMOM to self-clean. Because of the high focus on autonomy, the user only has to prefill the gas and liquid supply tanks and run their programmed experiment. No intervention is necessary to begin or end an experiment, or to clean before or after it, cutting down on time spent setting up and monitoring experiments, and ultimately money spent on human labor.