Team Members
Marcela Abadia, Joao Pedro Ferreira Dos Santos, Ashton Goan, Oliver Goodall, Brenden Modi, Wojciech Przepiora, Pelayo Urrios, Audrey Myat
Abstract
The Compact Automated Bioreactor box (CAMbox) is an autonomous microbioreactor designed to culture, sanitize, and measure different samples for six different well plates and 2 different conical tubes. The CAMbox has a steel enclosure designed to fit all these operations through the most efficient use of space, leaving a small footprint. The compact design allows this device to be able to reach setpoint temperatures with speed and cost efficiency. With the addition of the high-powered Siefert thermoelectric cooling system, the CAMbox can achieve temperatures below 4 Celsius in under 15 minutes. Furthermore, the Omega 300W Compact Enclosure fan heater allows the device to achieve temperatures as high as 70 Celsius in under 15 minutes. For measuring the vitals, using optical density and fluorescence intensity; the samples will be able to be measured in real time, requiring no interference. To allow an incubation period of two weeks there is a liquid handling system which can add/subtract liquid into the cell cultures and dispose of waste by using a stepper motor, pipette and disposable pipette tips to avoid cross contamination. The device also includes a shaker system which implements a rail and bearing system in both the x and y direction with motors that can run either individually, for linear motion, or simultaneously, for circular motion. Additionally, various gases can be added into the environment using solenoid valves. Our device performs these operations while still being compact through efficient use of space.