Introduction to liquid classes
When you build a workflow, you select a liquid handling policy to control how a device handles a liquid. However, the device itself uses a liquid class to handle the liquid, not a liquid handling policy.
This means that, before you run an execution on the device, Synthace must link the liquid handling policy that you selected to a compatible liquid class. We refer to a compatible liquid class as an Synthace liquid class.
Liquid classes are device-specific, so the way that Synthace links a liquid handling policy to a liquid class is different for each device.
Hamilton Microlab® STAR™ or STARlet™
When you simulate a workflow, Synthace links a liquid handling policy to an Synthace liquid class if:
the PROXYLIQUID of the liquid handling policy matches the ProxyLiquid of the liquid class;
on the Config tab, you selected some tip types that match the TipType of the liquid class;
the DISPREFERENCE and MULTI_DISPENSE_LIMIT of the liquid handling policy map to the DispenseMode of the liquid class;
Note: This also considers whether or not the destination well is empty.
DISPREFERENCE | MULTI_DISPENSE_LIMIT | Destination well | DispenseMode |
|
| Not empty | DispenseSurface_Empty |
|
| Empty | DispenseJet_Empty |
|
| Not empty | DispenseJet_Empty |
|
| Empty or not | DispenseSurface_Empty |
Example: Reagent 1 has a liquid handling policy with a DISPREFERENCE of
0and a MULTI_DISPENSE_LIMIT of1. If Synthace instructs the liquid handler to transfer Reagent 1 to a well that is not empty, it will link the liquid handling policy to a liquid class with a DispenseMode of DispenseSurface_Empty. If Synthace instructs the liquid handler to transfer Reagent 1 to a well that is empty, it will link the liquid handling policy to a liquid class with a DispenseMode of DispenseJet_Empty.
the volume of the liquid that you want to transfer is between the MinVol and MaxVol of the liquid class.
If Synthace could select multiple liquid classes, but those liquid classes have different volume ranges, Synthace selects the liquid class with the smallest volume range.
Example
We want to transfer 30ul of a liquid. classA has a MinVol of 4ul and a MaxVol of 50ul. classB has a MinVol of 20ul and a MaxVol of 40ul. Because the volume range of classB is smaller than the volume range of classA, Synthace selects classB.
Create some Synthace liquid classes from some VENUS® liquid classes
Before you added a configuration to Synthace, you imported some Synthace liquid classes.
However, if VENUS® already contains some liquid classes, and you would prefer Synthace to link its liquid handling policies to them instead of the Synthace liquid classes that we provided, you can.
To do so, add the VENUS® liquid classes to a CSV file, then upload the CSV file to a configuration.
When you do, Synthace creates some Synthace liquid classes from the VENUS® liquid classes in the CSV file.
When you configure a workflow, you select the configuration that contains those liquid classes.
Then, when you simulate the workflow, Synthace will link the liquid handling policies in the workflow to the Synthace liquid classes that you created from the VENUS® ones.
Warning: This will delete the Synthace liquid classes that we provided. Do not complete the following steps if you still want to use them.
0. In Microsoft® Excel®, create a CSV file that contains the following columns.
Column | Description | Warning |
LiquidClassName | The name of the custom liquid class. | This must be the same as the name by which Hamilton CO-RE Liquid Editor identifies the liquid class. |
ProxyLiquid | The type of liquid for which you will use the liquid class. |
|
TipType | The type of tips that the device will use. |
|
DispenseMode | The method that the device will use to dispense the liquid in the tip. |
|
EmptyTip | Whether or not the tip will be empty after the device dispenses the liquid in the tip. | In the current release, Synthace cannot instruct any devices to dispense more than once during the same transfer. This means that the value of this property must be Y. |
MinVol | The minimum volume of liquid that the device will transfer. |
|
MaxVol | The maximum volume of liquid that the device will transfer. |
|
Category | The origin of the liquid class. |
|
In Synthace, go to Inventory > Devices.
On the card that displays the device, click CONFIGURATION.
On the LIQUID CLASSES tab, click UPLOAD CSV, then locate and open the CSV file.
Click CLOSE.
Tip: To add more custom liquid classes to the configuration, download the custom liquid class file, add the additional custom liquid classes, then upload the file back to the configuration.
Force Synthace to use a specific liquid class
In the first instance, Synthace links a liquid handling policy to a liquid class if the ProxyLiquid of the liquid handling policy matches the ProxyLiquid of the liquid class.
To force Synthace to use a specific liquid class, create a liquid class with a unique ProxyLiquid, then create a custom liquid handling policy with the same ProxyLiquid.
If no other liquid class has that ProxyLiquid, then Synthace will always link that the custom liquid handling policy to that liquid class.
Tip: For more information, see the following. Complete the custom liquid handling policies spreadsheet.