[Bio] Post-meeting thoughts and NIR probe

[Rolf]

Hi Folks!
It was good to see everyone yesterday, and get updated on what people
are working on.
Too bad it got so noisy at Noiseybridge!

I went ahead and ordered some parts today (will expense with Rikke
soon) for the
pH amplifier.  It's going to be quite an effort.
I also will get some phototransistors for the NIR probe.

I found some parts that are well matched for the 850nm IR LEDs that I brought in
yesterday.  It's the Optek OP506B.  They cost 80 cents each.
A very simple circuit is required around it, and it might even work
with a couple
resistors.
I think the probe will require 3 wires:  +5v power, signal output, and
GND (hopefully shielded).

If these parts work, then the mechanicals should be straightforward.
The LED and the detector are both 3mm LED-like packages.
This should make it easier to design a probe around it.

Cheers,
-rolf


On Sun, Apr 3, 2011 at 1:37 AM, Rikke Rasmussen
<rikke.c.rasmussen at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey all,
> Welcome to the Biobridge mailing list! By way of introduction, here's a
> quick update on present status and future plans for the BioBridge group.
> Our current project, the BioBoard, one of the entries in the Great Global
> Hackerspace Challenge, is coming along really nicely. For any subscribers
> unfamiliar with the project, we're basically building a bunch of different
> sensors (temp., pH, dissolved oxygen, NIR spectrometer), hooking them up to
> a microcontroller and transmitting the sensor data to a server somewhere
> with a web app that plots a nice graph for you so you can monitor your
> microbial culture in real time from the comfort of your couch.
> What we've got so far:
> Sensors
> - thermometer: 2 different set-ups (one-wire digital thermometer,
> thermistor), both functional (yay!) - Charlie's the man here
> - pH: several leads, and at least two good brains chippin' away at the
> problem  - Rolf and Otute are the dudes on the job
> - dO: solvent sandwiched in a cheap and beautiful mylar/vinyl bilayer,
> catalyst to arrive on Thursday - Sean's got it down
> - NIR: have a fairly decent plan for the LED/photosensor part, but need help
> regarding circuitry and wiring - Rikke's fumbling with this one
> Microcontroller
> - Arduino board + ethernet shield have been successfully delivered to Marc
> (I hope?)
> - alternative suggestions have come up, we'll go through the pros and cons
> of each on Monday
> Software
> - we've been given an Arduino sketch for above assembly
> Project group meetings are on Mondays at 7:30pm at Noisebridge, (new)
> deadline is March 3rd. Current plan is another 2 weeks of sensor building,
> then a week of assembling and testing and a final week of fine tuning the
> final product. All of this ends in a big finale at Maker Faire (where
> Biobridge will hopefully also be represented at the Noisebridge table at
> least some of the time), May 21st-22nd.
> Once Maker Faire is over, it is my hope that we can start hosting regular
> classes at Noisebridge - both theoretical (intro to general microbiology,
> specific aspects of bacteriology/mycology/phycology as relevant,
> biochemistry/molecular biology/genetics, ecology & evolution) and practical
> (aerobic/anaerobic fermentation, bacterial/algal cultivation, mushroom
> growing, selection/mutagenesis/mating group experiments, basic
> transformation, whatever else we think of or find someone to teach) ...in
> short, all the fun we can have with microbes. We might well use the wiki to
> plan this - all input is valued!
>  Thoughts, ideas, comments?
> /Rikke
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