Design and evaluation of a microcomputer-controlled remote pipetter system

A remote pipetter has been designed and evaluated. The system is suitable for use in either a hot-cell or a glove-box environment and, therefore, is applicable in any situation where operating personnel must be separated from hazardous materials. The principle of operation for the pipetter is the displacement of liquid via a calibrated, screw-driven plunger. Variably sized aliquots of 1 to 1000 μL can be delivered. A steppng motor is used to move the plunger, and its position is verified with a linear variable differential transformer. The unit is controlled by a microcomputer. Besides the required operation sequences and error checking, a self-calibration check has been designed into the software. Measured accuracies and precisions of aliquot delivery are 0.4 and 0.2%, respectively