KBiosystems Ultraseal XT Pro#
The Ultraseal XT Pro is an inline, pneumatically driven heat sealer for microplates from KBiosystems, controlled over an RS-232 serial interface. It advances and cuts its own film internally and has no foil-length, force, or distance parameters. It requires a compressed air supply.
Property |
Value |
|---|---|
Communication |
Serial / RS-232, ASCII command protocol |
Serial settings |
9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, no handshake |
Terminator |
CR ( |
Temperature |
25-199 °C |
Sealing time |
0.5-9.9 s |
Warning
This driver has NOT been tested against hardware in PyLabRobot. If you verify it on a sealer, please open a PR to remove the not-tested warning.
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. It also logs the not-tested warning.
from pylabrobot.kbiosystems import KBiosystemsUltrasealXTPro
sealer = KBiosystemsUltrasealXTPro(port="/dev/ttyUSB0") # replace with your port
await sealer.setup()
Present and retract a plate#
The XT Pro seals a plate held on its shuttle. Move the shuttle out to let a mover place a plate, then move it back in before sealing.
await sealer.move_shuttle_out() # present the nest for loading
# ... a mover places a plate ...
await sealer.move_shuttle_in() # retract for sealing
Seal a plate#
seal() applies the time and temperature, waits for the heater to reach the setpoint, seals the plate, then returns to the idle temperature. Sealing time is 0.5-9.9 s; temperature is 25-199 °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 XT Pro this includes LowAir, which indicates the compressed air supply is insufficient.
print("Status:", await sealer.request_status())
Teardown#
await sealer.stop()