Agilent PlateLoc Integration
Drive your plate sealer in Python, without vendor software on the PC
Set the seal temperature and time, move the stage in and out, run a seal cycle and follow it to completion, all in code.
- Supports
- PlateLoc Thermal Microplate Sealer
- Connects over
- Serial
- Local interface
- SiLA 2
- Vendor software
- None required
- Runs On
- Linux / Windows / MacOS
What You Can Command on the PlateLoc
The connector splits the sealer into three modules: the seal cycle, the stage, and device status.
Seal Cycle
Run a seal with the stored settings, or pass a temperature (20 to 200 °C) and a seal time (0.5 to 12 s) in the same call. The connector waits until the heater is within 1 °C of target, then seals and reports progress.
Seal Settings
Set or read the temperature and seal time setpoints on their own, ahead of a run.
Live Readings
Stream the current heater temperature and a cycle-complete flag, so a script knows exactly when the plate is sealed.
Stage
Move the stage out for loading and in for sealing, and stream its status. A seal call moves the stage in by itself if it isn't there yet.
Abort
Stop a running seal cycle from code.
Errors and Firmware
Read the last errors, clear the error flags, and read the firmware version.
Know One Connector, Know Them All
Every instrument is found and called the same way, and the same Python drives whatever comes next. See how that scales from one instrument to a whole lab with our lab orchestration software.
One API, Every Instrument
Find it by name, then call its actions. It's the same on a liquid handler, a reader or an incubator, whatever the vendor ships underneath.
Ask a Connector What It Can Do
Modules and actions are discoverable at runtime, and parameters carry their own types, units and constraints. You don't need a PDF to find out.
Also Works With
The same Python script can drive every instrument on the bench, so a plate can move from one instrument to the next without switching tools.
Agilent PlateLoc
The questions automation engineers ask before integrating a PlateLoc.
Yes. The UniteLabs connector exposes the PlateLoc to Python: set the temperature and seal time, move the stage, start a seal and follow it to completion. The seal reports progress while it runs, so a script waits on it the same way it waits on any other instrument.
No. The connector talks to the PlateLoc over its serial port directly, so no Agilent software sits in the loop. It exposes the sealer as a SiLA 2 service on a local port.
Temperature from 20 to 200 °C in whole degrees, and seal time from 0.5 to 12 seconds. Values outside those ranges are rejected before anything reaches the sealer.
Yes. Move the stage out, have an arm such as the PreciseFlex 400 place the plate, then call the seal. Both instruments are driven from the same script.
Yes. The connector has a simulation mode, so you can build the sequence before the sealer is connected and switch to the real device later without changing your code.