Low-Cost Laboratory Equipment Monitoring and Automation
Open Access
- Author:
- Cover, Mike
- Area of Honors:
- Chemical Engineering
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Dr. Wayne Roger Curtis, Thesis Supervisor
Ali Borhan, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- automation
arduino
arduino ethernet shield
webserver
lab automation - Abstract:
- Lab automation is a common technique utilized in both industrial and research capacities in order to optimize the productivity of a process and minimize labor costs. While major companies tend to outsource automation, research labs have the potential to introduce more specific and less expensive soft circuit technology connected to the internet in order to provide an immediate status update on major equipment throughout the lab. The purpose of this project is to tether sensors and Arduino technology to vital processes in Dr. Wayne Curtis’s lab, which were fiscally enabled by the grants provided by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and National Science Foundation (NSF) Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development (BREAD). After comparing the practical use of several microprocessors, the Arduino ethernet shield (AES) was chosen as the optimal platform for the transmission of sensor data to the internet. Several sensors were selected and extensively tested: moisture sensors for reinforcing watering procedures, thermocouples for monitoring freezer temperatures, and light sensors for ensuring the fidelity of overhead lighting above plant tissue and algae cultures. Though the AES was able to transmit data within the local network, inevitably this thesis was unsuccessful in locating a method to transmit sensor data outside of the local network. Through the implementation of the AES, after the times of social distancing to avoid spreading COVID-19, future equipment operational fidelity within CurtisLab will be enhanced through the monitoring offered by the AES-generated webservers. Ironically, the COVID-19 restrictions on research activity emphasized the utility of this thesis work. If it had been in place, it would have provided invaluable monitoring during research shut-down.