QInstruments BioShake Integration
Drive your heater-shaker in Python, without hand-rolling serial commands
Set speed and acceleration, run timed shakes, lock plates with the ELM, and hold a temperature on -T and Q models.
- Supports
- 3000, 5000 elm, D30, Q1, Q2
- Connects over
- Serial
- Vendor software
- None required
- Runs On
- Linux / Windows / MacOS
What You Can Command on the BioShake
Each part of the shaker is its own set of Python commands. The connector identifies your model when it connects, so temperature and ELM commands only show up on models that have them.
Shaking
Set a target speed and acceleration time within your model's limits, start and stop, or run for a set time and follow the remaining seconds.
Temperature
On -T models and the Q1 and Q2: set a target, switch control on and off, and stream the current temperature every second.
ELM Plate Lock
On elm models and the Q1: lock and unlock the edge locking mechanism and read its state.
Device Info
Read the model, serial number and firmware version, reset the device, and switch the indicator LEDs on or off.
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. A liquid handler sets up the plate, a thermal cycler can cycle it, and a reader measures it, all from one script.
QInstruments BioShake
The questions automation engineers ask before integrating a BioShake.
Yes. The UniteLabs connector exposes the BioShake as Python commands: set the speed, run a timed shake, lock the plate and hold a temperature. It's ordinary async Python, so it can be version-controlled, tested and generated at runtime like any other code.
No. The connector sends the BioShake's own serial commands directly, so no vendor application runs alongside it. Give it the port, or just the device's serial number and it finds the port itself.
The BioShake 3000, 3000 elm, 3000 elm DWP, 3000-T, 3000-T elm, 5000 elm, D30, D30 elm, D30-T, D30-T elm, Q1 and Q2. The connector reads the model from the device when it connects and switches on the matching commands.
On -T models and the Q1 and Q2, yes. Set a target, switch control on and off, and stream the current temperature every second. The usable range comes from the device itself.
On elm models and the Q1, you lock and unlock the edge locking mechanism and read whether it's locked, so a plate handler can load and unload the shaker between steps.
Start a shake with a runtime and the call returns straight away. Subscribe to the remaining time to know when it's done, or stop it early.