Exchange Plates

Configure Worktable

In this step the sample plate configuration to be used by the system is defined.

Initially, a summary of the currently configured plates is shown. Press Change to modify the configuration or to exchange plates.

The buttons To Left port and To Right port move the stage to the corresponding loading positions and temporarily disable the y axis if the corresponding setting is configured accordingly.

The drop-down list includes plates included with the software as well as your own plates created by the plate editor.

Identifying plates

You can assign an identifier to each plate of the current experiment either by entering it manually or by reading it using the barcode scanner. This identifier will be shown everytime the worktable configuration is displayed and when experiment names are listed. It allows the operator to prevent mixups and associating data with a certain plate.

Configuring probe motions

By default, when the probe enters a sample area, it is directly lowered to the content height. To prevent this, each plate can be configured to observation mode, by checking the corresponding box below the plate identifier. This keeps the probe at a configurable height above the plate. The heights can be adjusted and optimized by clicking on the parameters listed below the checkbox:

Travel offset

This parameter determines the height at which the probe is moved between different sample areas or plates:

Plate height

This parameter is only shown for informational purpose. It can only be modified by editing the plate definition.

Content height

This parameter determines the height above the sample area to which the probe is lowered when entering a sample area. This is only applicable if the plate is not in observation mode.

It is not recommended to set this value too low, as the exact height of the sample area may differ from theoretical values and because the deflection is not monitored at this speed, the probe may crash into the sample.

Observation offset

When the plate is in observation mode, this parameter determines the height above the plate to which the probe is lowered when moving to a sample area.

Note that the observation offset is always added to the height of the plate not including plate covers (such as lids), so you should be careful not to set this value too low if the plate is covered.

Holder input

Sample input

Align Plate

This step supports calibration of plates that contain structures which cannot be guaranteed to be located exactly at a position defined in a plate model. In this calibration step, the exact position of such a structure is measured, such that other workflows can automatically process positions on the structure.

Prerequisites

The model of the plate with the structure(s) to be aligned must contain an appropriate pattern of single points or a list of coordinates for each structure within a shape.

example of a plate with a dish that contains 4 identical microstrutures represented by a list of coordinates each

Preparation

To start calibrating, follow the instructions in the software:

1. select the plate which contains the structure
2. within the plate select the shape (or sample area) which contains a point pattern representing the structure(s)
3. from the list below the plate view choose two point entries (or coordinates) that correspond to features of the structure that will be easy to identify in the video view

Calibrate

Press OK to start the calibration process.

Now you have to select each of the points in the list and center the corresponding position of the structure in the video view.

Use Move to selected point to position the stage at the theoretical position according to the plate model. You can then use the arrow navigation and/or drag the stage with the mouse to bring the correponding position to the center of the video.

Once centered, press Record position to accept the current position for calibration, then repeat the procedure for the remaing calibration points.