Y-probing

With PyLabRobot, you can probe the y position of any object on a STAR(let) deck. See also z probing for doing the same in the z direction.

Warning

This example uses the teaching tips. These are metal tips that are not forgiving. Be particularly careful when moving the channels around to avoid collisions.

Example setup

from pylabrobot.liquid_handling import LiquidHandler, STARBackend
from pylabrobot.resources import STARDeck  # or STARletDeck

star = STARBackend()
lh = LiquidHandler(backend=star, deck=STARDeck())
await lh.setup()

Capacitive y-probing using cLLD

If you are mapping a capacitive surface, you can use the cLLD sensor to detect the surface.

Warning

This example uses the teaching tips. These are metal tips that are not forgiving. Be particularly careful when moving the channels around to avoid collisions.

teaching_tip = lh.deck.get_resource("teaching_tip_rack")["A1"]

await lh.pick_up_tips(teaching_tip)

await star.prepare_for_manual_channel_operation(0)

# TODO: change this to a position that works for you
await star.move_channel_x(0, 500)
await star.move_channel_y(0, 300)

Use STARBackend.clld_probe_y_position_using_channel to probe the y-position of a single point at the current xz plane. This function will slowly move the channel until the liquid level sensor detects a change in capacitance. The y-point of the point of the tip is then returned.

await star.clld_probe_y_position_using_channel(
  channel_idx=0,
  probing_direction="forward",
)

await star.clld_probe_y_position_using_channel(
  channel_idx=0,
  probing_direction="backward",
)

await lh.return_tips()