Automated DNA Drying Processes
Location: Coralville, Iowa 52241, USA
Industry: Manufacturing, Life Sciences, Medical
Business Functions:
- Engineering
- Quality Assurance
Problems
The client is a manufacturer of customized DNA Oligos. They use Autonomous DNA Dreyer machines to prepare oligo samples by drying them down to a required level for use in further synthesis and analysis. Dreyer has a connected PLC which is responsible for managing the cycles and providing instructions to Dreyer.
The client needed to integrate their existing software suite (where cycles are maintained), to automate the drying process. The main challenges with their system included the following:
- Incorrect cycles pre-loaded to Dreyer
- Placing the incorrect rack in the Dreyer
- Absence of look up and load of cycles to Dreyer based on the barcode scan on the rack
- With no real time integration of software suite with Dreyer, process flows were disconnected and error prone
Solution Architecture:
Solutions
Allied worked to provide recommendations about process improvements with the following solutions:
- Established connection with PLC over a COM port using a USB-RS232 interface
Cycle load process initiated by:
- A barcode scan on the Dreyer
- Software Suite - Barcode verification at Dreyer
- Read logs from Dreyer
- Integration with software Suite and exposed a set of functionalities to ease integration
- Additional layers of validation
Benefits / Results:
- Simple and easy barcode scan-based management
- Minimized errors on loading the cycles and rack placement
- Allocation/deallocation overhead taken away from manual process
Tech Stack
.NET Framework
- Application was built on this framework
ladder logic
- PLC is programmed following this language
IOT
- RS 232 based communication interface
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