Since refeeding the wheel with tips has been our biggest problem thus far, we came up with an idea to dump tips back into the wheel.
The idea was that we would design and print a block that would catch all the stray pipette tips that fly out of the wheel or off the ramp (if they fell through the funnel onto the ramp in the wrong orientation), and fling all the pipette tips back onto the wheel in a “catapult” action.
Sketch of refeeder idea. (Credits: Anthia)
We also designed and printed the pipette holder that would attach the pipette to the Z-axis sliding table. We printed it with small holes for us to secure the pieces together and to the Z-axis sliding table with screws. The top piece is meant to press the eject button on the micropipette down, while the bottom piece holds the pipette and the stepper motor connected to the Z-axis sliding table.
Top piece of the pipette holder. (Credits: KK)
Bottom piece of the pipette holder. (Credits: KK)