Team Members
Cameryn Anderson, Devin Cornair, Jeffrey Ho, Alexander Kouchalakos, RIchard Mazzula, Abraham Ortiz, Robert Principato, Max Rosen, Khalil Sabawi
Abstract
The Unmanned Cell Growth and Monitoring System (U-C-GaMs) takes all aspects of cell culturing and combines them into one intuitive, autonomous system. U-C-GaMs utilizes a 3-axis screw gantry that allows a fluid dispenser, gripper arm, and optical density and fluorescence intensity sensors to easily access any well in the system. U-C-GaMs uses a shaker table that can perform multiple shaking patterns to agitate the cells. Through the use of a linear actuator, the gripper arm can move both well plates and conical tubes from the shaker table to the well plate table and back. A gas injection system that uses unreactive, explosion-proof solenoids injects multiple different gases into the system. Independent thermoelectric heaters and coolers can regulate the internal temperature from 4°to 70°F. To ensure no cross-contamination, U-C-GaMs utilizes a pipette tip ejector that will dump used pipette tips into a waste bin and attach anew pipette tip each time from a nearby rack. The syringe piston fluid dispenser is also able to dump used media into a waste reservoir with an externally located valve, where the customer can then safely discard of the waste at their leisure. U-C-GaMs is sealed internally and utilizes polyurethane foam panels to insulate the system, and also consists of a large acrylic window that allows the customer to both see into and access the system. An LCD screen externally mounted displays the status of U-C-GaMs, with a large emergency stop button in the event an emergency occurs.