FINDUS: An Open-Source 3D Printable Liquid-Handling Workstation for Laboratory Automation in Life Sciences

1. Motion2 µmMotion accuracy: reported
2. Volume1.4%Volumetric accuracy: reported
3. Viability—Cell viability: not reported
4. Unattended—Unattended operation: not reported
5. StandardISO8655Standard compliance: reported

• Motion / positional accuracy2 µm

  The stepper motor allowed a positional accuracy of synthesis batches and introduced a polypropylene frit into the piston stroke of approximately 2 µm.

• Volumetric accuracy1.4%

  The permissible error limits according to For verification of the program flow, we included a simula- ISO8655 were 1.4% to 2.8% of the nominal volume.29 tion mode in offline setup.

• Reported against a written standardISO8655

  Determination of the Pipetting Performance by Means of the Gravimetric Protocol, as Described in ISO8655.

Each score is shown against the range the other 59 builds actually occupy, because no criterion uses the full 1–5 scale. These describe how reproducible the build is, not how good the science is.

• Resolution

  3/1–5

  Smallest calibrated volume 20 uL (P200) with ~2 µm piston positioning and systematic error under 0.68%, though stroke speed is limited to 4 mm/s.

• Throughput

  3/2–5

  Single-channel pipette unit with manual tool swap (~10 s), filling one 96-well plate in 3:30 min; the eight-channel speedup is hypothetical only.

• Parts sourcing

  3/2–4

  Mix of common parts and custom/printed components.

• Skill needed

  4/2–4

  Build/operation described as low-skill or basic assembly.

• Facilities needed

  2/2–4

  Requires specialized facilities, equipment, or consumables.

• Documentation

  4/2–5

  Open resources include several build or operation artifacts.

• Validation effort

  3/2–4

  ISO 8655 gravimetric calibration at 11 volumes with 10 replicates over three days, but ISO limits and literature values are specs rather than an experimental benchmark.

• Cycle time

  3/1–4

  No timing comparison reported; authors state speed was not a design goal and the 3:30 min plate fill is unbenchmarked against manual pipetting.