[Bio] Post-meeting thoughts and NIR probe

Wed Apr 6 17:35:16 UTC 2011

Hey kids!

So, I was taking a peek through Jameco today to see what kinds of
phototransistors could be used for the DO sensor, and came across these cool
dillios:

https://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_1872986_-1

Essentially, we've got an IR LED with a phototransistor all in one package.
Its designed to do solid object sensing, but wouldn't it be possible to use
this as our spectrophotometer? I think using this guy could solve a lot of
problems - the mount is already designed, the gap spacing is well
characterized, and everything already lines up.

Do people have experience using these kinds of things, or should I go ahead
and order a couple?

Sean

On Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 11:56 PM, Rikke Rasmussen <
rikke.c.rasmussen at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey all,
>
>
> Thanks for a great meeting yesterday, pleasant and very informative in
> spite of weekend-wear and happy KDE people at Noiseybridge!
>
> Rolf, the OP506B looks just perfect - 100% relative response at 850nm, and
> schematics so simple even I can follow them - brilliant! Ihave just been
> reading through the attached .pdf on the wonders of single-colour NIR for
> biomass measurements, published by one of Optek's competitors, mainly for
> calibration equations + curves. Also a nice basic intro to
> spectrometry, should anyone else be curious.
>
> Charlie, thanks so much for the blog post<http://www.element14.com/community/blogs/bioboardblog>- was on my way to give a somewhat wishy-washy update, and there was this
> brilliant, high-level discussion of thermocouples and thermistors with pics
> and all! Check it out, everyone!
>
> <http://www.element14.com/community/blogs/bioboardblog>In other news,
> there will be both destillation and kombucha brewing and bottling to have
> fun with tomorrow night at Noisebridge, approx. 7pm - come hang out, help
> out...or both!
>
> /Rikke
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 6, 2011 at 12:18 AM, Rolf <rolfvw at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 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
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Bio mailing list
>> > Bio at lists.noisebridge.net
>> > https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/bio
>> >
>> >
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