KBiosystems Ultraseal PRO (formerly WASP)#
The Ultraseal PRO - formerly sold as the WASP - is an inline, pneumatically driven heat sealer for microplates from KBiosystems, controlled over an RS-232 serial interface. A plate is placed on a shuttle that extends from the front of the unit; the seal command draws the shuttle in, seals, and returns it automatically. The Ultraseal PRO advances and cuts its own film internally and has no foil-length, force, or distance parameters. It requires a compressed air supply.
Property |
Value |
|---|---|
OEM link (formerly the WASP) |
|
Communication |
Serial / RS-232, ASCII command protocol |
Serial settings |
9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, no handshake |
Terminator |
CR ( |
Temperature |
25-200 °C |
Sealing time |
0.5-9.9 s |
Physical setup#
Connect the sealer’s RS-232 port to your computer, typically through a USB-to-serial adapter, and connect the compressed air supply. Make sure the sealer’s serial parameters match the driver defaults (9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, no handshake).
Connect#
setup() opens the serial port, waits for the device to be ready, and pre-heats to the preheating temperature.
from pylabrobot.kbiosystems import KBiosystemsUltrasealPRO
sealer = KBiosystemsUltrasealPRO(port="/dev/ttyUSB0") # replace with your port
await sealer.setup()
Seal a plate#
Place a plate on the extended shuttle. seal() applies the time and temperature, waits for the heater to reach the setpoint, then draws the shuttle in, seals the plate, and returns the shuttle to the start position automatically before returning to the idle temperature. Sealing time is 0.5-9.9 s; temperature is 25-200 °C.
await sealer.seal(temperature=170, duration=2.5)
Temperature#
Set the sealing temperature setpoint and read the current heater temperature.
await sealer.set_temperature(160)
print("Current temperature:", await sealer.request_temperature(), "C")
Status#
Read the status byte as a set of flags. On the Ultraseal PRO this includes LowAir, which indicates the compressed air supply is insufficient, and ParkMode, which indicates the shuttle is parked inside.
print("Status:", await sealer.request_status())
Teardown#
await sealer.stop()