[Bio] Post-meeting thoughts and NIR probe

[Otute Akiti]

Hello All,

To follow up with the pH probe, I contacted Prof Goldcamp to inquire about
the probe they published the paper on.
He said they were able to use the probe with a standard pH meter without
modification - which leads me to conclude that the signal output from the
probe leads must be just as in a commercial probe. This remains to be seen.
The materials are on order and I should have a prototype hopefully by next
week.  What wasn't mentioned in the paper clearly is that a second reference
electrode is needed for the whole setup to work. They used a commercial one
- odd. I will try to build the reference electrode just like the main one
only with a different solution. That should work :)

Cheers,

-O.


On Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 5:18 PM, 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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