Full-automatic pipetting workstation and pipetting method

Abstract

The invention provides a full-automatic pipetting workstation and a pipetting method. The pipetting workstation is characterized in that a tray mechanism and a pipetting mechanism are arranged in a frame, a control system is arranged on the outer side, a visual identification camera is arranged at the top, a lens faces the tray mechanism, and the visual identification camera is in signal connection with the control system; the tray mechanism comprises a tray and a push-pull mechanism, and the tray is pulled out of or pushed into the frame through the push-pull mechanism; a plurality of injectors are arranged on the pipetting mechanism side by side and connected with pipettes through pipelines, and pressure sensors are mounted on the upper portions of the pipettes. The device is reasonable in structure and high in integrity, the visual recognition camera is arranged, position information of volumetric flasks in the tray is monitored and recognized in real time, the injector is adopted for liquid suction and liquid relief, the liquid relief accuracy is improved, the pressure sensor is arranged on the upper portion of the liquid suction pipe, and liquid relief is safer; the whole pipetting bottle and the volumetric flask can be conveniently taken out and replaced in a tray push-pull mode, so that the pipetting amount is increased; and the cleaning mechanism facilitates pipetting of various different liquids, so that the pipetting working efficiency is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of automatic pipetting technology, in particular to a full-automatic pipetting workstation and a pipetting method. BACKGROUND

[0002] Pipetting operation is widely used in chemical, biological, pharmaceutical, food and other industry fields, and the demand for pipetting operation in these industry fields is large, and the accuracy of the results is high.

[0003] The existing pipetting work is mostly manually operated, and since the number of samples to be tested is large and the operator is not unique, the error probability is increased, and the work efficiency is low.

[0004] With the continuous development of the above-mentioned industry fields, the market demand for automatic pipetting stations is also growing. The existing pipetting workstation adopts a peristaltic pump to transfer liquid from one pipette bottle to another. The peristaltic pump has an inlet and an outlet, and the liquid to be transferred enters the inlet of the peristaltic pump through a hose and is discharged from the outlet. The existing pipetting method can achieve the effect of pipetting, but has the following obvious defects:

[0005] 1. Although the flow value of the peristaltic pump is measured in the laboratory, the flow value is not a fixed value and will change due to factors such as working environment, measurement medium, and hose size, so the peristaltic pump has a large error in transferring liquid, and the pipetting precision is low.

[0006] 2. The hose in the peristaltic pump has a service life and needs to be replaced frequently, thus increasing the material cost and labor cost.

[0007] 3. The pipetting volume is small, generally less than 1ml, and cannot meet the pipetting demand of more than 1ml, and the applicability of the application scenario is low.

[0008] 4. The pipetting tip is mostly made of plastic and is disposable, and needs to be replaced after use, increasing the time cost and material cost. SUMMARY

[0009] Therefore, the purpose of the present application is to provide a full-automatic pipetting workstation and a pipetting method. The pipetting workstation is provided with a visual recognition camera at the top, a visual recognition algorithm is developed, and the position information of the volumetric flask in the tray is monitored and recognized in real time. The pipetting mechanism uses a syringe to suck and transfer liquid, improves the pipetting accuracy, installs a pressure sensor on the upper part of the suction tube to prevent the bottom of the suction tube from touching the volumetric flask during pipetting, causing damage to the equipment, and makes the pipetting work safer. The tray is pushed and pulled to facilitate the whole replacement of the pipette bottle and the volumetric flask, and the pipetting volume is improved. A cleaning mechanism is configured to facilitate the pipetting of various liquids and improve the pipetting efficiency.

[0010] The application provides a full-automatic pipetting workstation, which comprises a frame, a tray mechanism and a pipetting mechanism arranged in the frame, a control system arranged on the outer side of the frame, and an L-shaped metal frame arranged on the top of the frame, wherein an upper portion of the L-shaped metal frame is fixedly provided with a visual recognition camera, the lens of the visual recognition camera faces the tray mechanism, and the visual recognition camera is signal-connected with the control system.

[0011] The visual recognition camera (high-definition wide-angle large-frame-rate image stabilization industrial camera) arranged on the top of the pipetting workstation collects image information in the tray mechanism. Meanwhile, a visual recognition algorithm for recognizing the characteristics of the volumetric flask is self-developed, which can recognize whether the volumetric flask exists in the tray, and a large number of actual image photos are taken to train the visual recognition algorithm, so that the visual recognition algorithm has high recognition accuracy and reduces errors.

[0012] When the pipetting workstation starts to work, the visual recognition camera is called to take real-time pictures of the scene in the tray of the pipetting workstation, and then the taken pictures are transmitted to the control system, which is processed by the visual recognition algorithm, so that the state of the volumetric flask in the tray can be recognized, whether the volumetric flask exists in each position in the tray can be determined, and then the position information of the corresponding volumetric flask is obtained, and the pipetting workstation performs intelligent pipetting operation on the corresponding position.

[0013] The tray mechanism comprises a tray and a push-pull mechanism, the tray is fixedly connected to the push-pull mechanism, the push-pull mechanism is slidingly connected to the frame, and the tray is loaded with a plurality of pipettes and volumetric flasks arranged in a uniform array. The tray can reciprocate between the inside and outside of the frame by driving of the push-pull mechanism, so that the tray can be pulled out of or pushed into the frame, and the volumetric flasks can be replaced in batches. In the application, the tray is pulled out of the frame for volumetric flask replacement, which is more convenient than the volumetric flask replacement in the pipetting workstation in the prior art. After the volumetric flask replacement is completed, the tray is pushed in.

[0014] The pipetting mechanism comprises a plurality of (preferably four) syringes arranged side by side, and the syringes are used for liquid suction and injection. Each syringe is connected with a suction tube through a pipeline, and a pressure sensor is arranged on the upper portion of the suction tube. The syringe has higher pipetting accuracy, and can be used repeatedly for many times, thereby greatly reducing the material cost and replacement time cost.

[0015] Further, the syringe is connected with a ball screw mechanism, the ball screw mechanism comprises a screw rod and a ball nut, the ball nut moves up and down along the screw rod, and the piston portion of the syringe is fixedly connected with the ball nut. The injection head portion of the syringe is in flow connection with the suction tube. The ball nut of the ball screw mechanism drives the syringe to suck or inject by moving up and down.

[0016] Further, the inside of the frame is provided with a left-right direction moving driving mechanism and an up-down direction moving driving mechanism, the up-down direction moving driving mechanism is fixedly connected to the left-right direction moving driving mechanism through a crossbeam, forming a two-axis mechanical arm, realizing the movement of the pipetting mechanism; the pipetting mechanism is connected to the up-down direction moving driving mechanism. The control system is respectively signal connected with the left-right direction moving driving mechanism and the up-down direction moving driving mechanism.

[0017] The control system controls the start, stop and other work of the whole mechanism of the full-automatic pipetting workstation. The left-right direction moving driving mechanism realizes the left-right direction movement of the pipetting mechanism; the up-down direction moving driving mechanism realizes the up-down direction movement of the pipetting mechanism.

[0018] Further, the inside of the frame is further provided with a cleaning mechanism, the cleaning mechanism is flow-connected with the pipetting mechanism after completing pipetting, the cleaning mechanism comprises a cleaning tank and a water pump, the cleaning tank is provided with a liquid level sensor, the water pump is flow-connected with the cleaning tank, and the liquid level sensor is signal connected with the water pump.

[0019] When the cleaning work is performed, the cleaning liquid is added into the cleaning tank through the water pump, and when the water level in the cleaning tank reaches the requirement, the water pump stops working. The cleaning process is that the pipette repeatedly pushes and hits the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank by the syringe, and the waste water of the cleaned cleaning liquid is discharged through another water pump;

[0020] Further, the left-right direction moving driving mechanism adopts a synchronous wheel transmission mechanism, the synchronous wheel transmission mechanism comprises a synchronous wheel and a synchronous belt, the synchronous belt is sleeved on the synchronous wheel, and a sliding block is fixedly connected on the synchronous belt, the synchronous wheel is driven to rotate by a left-right moving driving motor, the synchronous wheel drives the synchronous belt to move, and the synchronous belt drives the sliding block to move left and right.

[0021] Further, the up-down direction moving driving mechanism adopts a gear and rack mechanism, the gear and rack mechanism comprises a gear, a rack and a guide rail, the rack and the guide rail are fixedly installed together, and the gear rolls up and down along the rack; the gear is driven to rotate by an up-down moving driving motor, the gear drives the rack to move, and the guide rail moves up and down with the rack.

[0022] The application also provides a full-automatic pipetting method applied to the full-automatic pipetting workstation.

[0023] The image in the tray is acquired by a visual recognition camera, and the image signal is transmitted to a control system, and the algorithm return value is obtained through a visual recognition algorithm, and the algorithm return value is analyzed to identify the position information of the capacity bottle in the tray; the visual recognition algorithm comprises a Hough transform and a gray scale conversion;

[0024] The Hough transform is used to detect straight lines and circular shapes in the capacity bottle image in the tray, and the conversion expression for detecting the straight lines is:

[0025] b = -k * x0 + y0 (1)

[0026] In formula (1), (x0, y0) is a point in the image space, b is a parameter in the polar coordinate system, and k is the slope of the straight line; formula (1) maps the point in the image space to a straight line in the parameter space, and the straight line parameters are determined by accumulating local maximum values;

[0027] The conversion expression for detecting the circular shape is:

[0028] (2)

[0029] In formula (2), (a, b) is the center coordinate, r is the radius, and (x, y) is the point coordinate on the circular edge;

[0030] Each edge point in the image space corresponds to a three-dimensional cone surface in the parameter space, and the cone surfaces of multiple points on the same circle intersect at a point in the parameter space, and the coordinates of the point are the parameters of the circle;

[0031] The accumulator is used to count the possible center coordinates and radius parameters, and finally the circular target is accurately positioned;

[0032] The standard Hough transform method calculated by the accumulator has a large amount of calculation and is sensitive to noise, preferably, a Hough gradient method is used, which detects in two stages, first determines the center of the circle by using the edge gradient direction, and then counts the radius by using a histogram, which significantly reduces the calculation complexity;

[0033] The gray scale conversion adopts a weighted average method, and the calculation expression of the gray scale conversion is:

[0034] Gray value = 0.34 * R + 0.33 * G + 0.33 * B (3)

[0035] In formula (3), R, G and B are respectively the red, green and blue color channels;

[0036] Formula (3) converts the RGB color image into a gray scale image, which is used for subsequent data transmission and analysis processing;

[0037] The control system controls the left-right direction moving driving mechanism to run to the liquid suction position according to the position information of the capacity bottle in the tray identified by monitoring, controls the up-down direction moving driving mechanism to run downward to make the pipetting mechanism move downward, and controls the pipette-connected suction tube to enter the bottom of the pipette bottle, so that the pipette sucks the liquid into the pipeline connected with the suction tube.

[0038] The up-down direction moving driving mechanism runs upward to drive the pipetting mechanism to move upward, the left-right direction moving driving mechanism runs to the pipetting position, the up-down direction moving driving mechanism runs downward to make the pipetting mechanism move downward, and the pipette-connected suction tube enters the bottom of the capacity bottle, so that the pipette pushes the liquid in the pipeline connected with the suction tube into the capacity bottle.

[0039] The up-down direction moving driving mechanism runs upward to drive the pipetting mechanism to move upward, the left-right direction moving driving mechanism runs to the cleaning position, the up-down direction moving driving mechanism runs downward to make the pipetting mechanism move downward, and the pipette-connected suction tube enters the cleaning tank to clean the suction tube; when the liquid in the cleaning tank is lost and exceeds the set liquid level threshold, the liquid level sensor sends a signal to the water pump to start the water pump to supplement the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank.

[0040] Further, when the bottom of the suction tube touches the pipette bottle or the capacity bottle, the suction tube feeds an upward force to the pressure sensor, the pressure sensor sends a signal to the control system, and the control system controls the corresponding mechanism to perform a protection action to prevent the bottom of the suction tube from touching the pipette bottle or the capacity bottle due to inaccurate position during pipetting, thereby avoiding damage to the equipment.

[0041] The application also provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, and the program is executed by a processor to realize the steps of the full-automatic pipetting method.

[0042] The application also provides a computer device, which comprises a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, and the processor realizes the steps of the full-automatic pipetting method when executing the program.

[0043] Compared with the prior art, the application has the following beneficial effects:

[0044] The full-automatic pipetting workstation and the pipetting method have simple and reasonable structure, high integrity, and the pipetting workstation is provided with a visual recognition camera at the top, the visual recognition algorithm is developed to monitor and identify the position information of the volumetric flask in the tray in real time, the pipetting mechanism uses a syringe to suck and pipette, the pipetting accuracy is improved, the pressure sensor is arranged on the upper part of the suction tube to prevent the bottom of the suction tube from colliding with the volumetric flask due to inaccurate position during pipetting, so as to prevent the equipment from being damaged and make the pipetting work safer, the tray is pushed and pulled to facilitate the integral replacement of the pipette and the volumetric flask, the pipetting amount is improved, the cleaning mechanism is arranged to facilitate the pipetting of various liquids, the pipetting work efficiency is effectively improved, the labor cost and the material cost are reduced, the degree of automation is high, the applicability is good, and the pipetting workstation has a wide application prospect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0045] Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. The drawings are included only to illustrate preferred embodiments and do not imply any limitation on the application.

[0046] In the drawings:

[0047] Figure 1 It is the overall structure diagram of the full-automatic pipetting workstation of the embodiment of the application.

[0048] Figure 2 It is the installation diagram of the visual recognition camera of the embodiment of the application.

[0049] Figure 3 It is the installation diagram of the control system of the embodiment of the application.

[0050] Figure 4 It is the installation diagram of the left-right direction moving driving mechanism of the embodiment of the application.

[0051] Figure 5 It is the structural component diagram of the left-right direction moving driving mechanism of the embodiment of the application.

[0052] Figure 6 It is the installation diagram of the up-down direction moving driving mechanism of the embodiment of the application.

[0053] Figure 7 It is the structural component diagram of the up-down direction moving driving mechanism of the embodiment of the application.

[0054] Figure 8 It is the installation diagram of the left-right direction moving driving mechanism and the up-down direction moving driving mechanism in the frame of the embodiment of the application.

[0055] Figure 9 It is the schematic diagram of the tray mechanism pulled out from the frame of the embodiment of the application.

[0056] Figure 10 Schematic diagram of the tray mechanism pushed back into the frame of an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] Figure 11 Structural diagram of the pipetting mechanism of an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] Figure 12 Installation position diagram of the pressure sensor of an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] Figure 13 Front view of the installation of the syringe and ball screw mechanism of an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] Figure 14 Axonometric view of the installation of the syringe and ball screw mechanism of an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] Figure 15 Structural component diagram of the cleaning mechanism of an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] Figure 16 Structural diagram of the cleaning mechanism of an embodiment of the present application for dispensing cleaning liquid;

[0063] Figure 17 Schematic diagram of the operation flow of the control system of an embodiment of the present application in actual application;

[0064] Figure 18 First operation example diagram of the visual recognition of the position of the bottle in the tray of an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] Figure 19 Second operation example diagram of the visual recognition of the position of the bottle in the tray of an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] Figure 20 Structural schematic diagram of the computer device of an embodiment of the present application.

[0067] The reference signs in the drawings represent:

[0068] 1, frame; 2, left-right direction moving drive mechanism; 3, up-down direction moving drive mechanism; 4, tray mechanism; 5, pipetting mechanism; 6, cleaning mechanism; 7, control system; 8, synchronous wheel; 9, synchronous belt; 10, sliding block; 11, left-right moving drive motor; 12, gear; 13, rack; 14, guide rail; 15, up-down moving drive motor; 16, crossbeam; 17, ball nut; 18, screw rod; 19, water pump; 20, cleaning tank; 21, liquid level sensor; 22, pressure sensor; 23, syringe, 24, visual recognition camera; 25, L-shaped metal frame. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0069] The exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein with reference to the attached drawings. The description of the exemplary embodiments is intended to apply to various alternative embodiments as well. The following description is not limited to the exemplary embodiments, but rather, is applicable to any apparatuses and methods in accordance with the present disclosure.

[0070] The terminology used in the present disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure. As used in the description of the embodiments and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It also will be understood that the term "and / or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0071] It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc. can be used herein to describe various information, the information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one piece of information from another. For example, a first information can also be termed a second information, and, similarly, a second information can also be termed a first information, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Depending on the context, the word "if' as used herein can be interpreted as meaning "when" or "in response to determining" or "in response to ascertaining".

[0072] The embodiments of the present application are further described below.

[0073] The embodiments of the present application provide a full-automatic pipetting workstation, referring to Figure 1 、 Figure 2 、 Figure 3 As shown in the drawings, the inside of the frame 1 is provided with a tray mechanism 4 and a pipetting mechanism 5, the outside of the frame 1 is provided with a control system 7, the top of the frame 1 is installed with an L-shaped metal frame 25, the upper part of the L-shaped metal frame 25 is fixedly provided with a visual recognition camera 24, the lens of the visual recognition camera 24 faces the tray mechanism 4, and the visual recognition camera 24 is signal-connected to the control system 7. The visual recognition camera 24 collects image information in the tray mechanism 4, and monitors and identifies the position information of the volumetric flask in the tray in real time.

[0074] When the pipetting workstation starts to work, the visual recognition camera 24 is called to shoot the scene in the tray of the pipetting workstation in real time, and then the shooting image is transmitted to the control system 7. Through the self-developed visual recognition algorithm for identifying the characteristics of the volumetric flask, the state of the volumetric flask in the tray can be identified, it is determined whether there is a volumetric flask in each position in the tray, and then the corresponding position information of the volumetric flask is obtained, and the pipetting workstation performs intelligent pipetting operation on the corresponding position.

[0075] The first operation example of monitoring and identifying the position of the volumetric flask in the tray of the present embodiment is as follows:

[0076] As shown in Figure 18 , the black color is the randomly placed volumetric flask, the image in the tray is obtained by the visual recognition camera 24, the algorithm return value is obtained by the visual recognition algorithm, the algorithm return value is analyzed to obtain the information that the first column has one volumetric flask, the second column has no volumetric flask, and the third column has full volumetric flask, and the pipetting mechanism moves the volumetric flasks in the first column and the third column respectively to perform pipetting operation.

[0077] The second operation example is as follows:

[0078] As shown in Figure 19 , the black color is the randomly placed volumetric flask, the image in the tray is obtained by the visual recognition camera 24, the algorithm return value is obtained by the visual recognition algorithm, the algorithm return value is analyzed to obtain the information that the first column has no volumetric flask, the second column has three volumetric flasks, and the third column has two volumetric flasks, and the pipetting mechanism moves the volumetric flasks in the second column and the third column respectively to perform pipetting operation.

[0079] The tray mechanism 4 includes a tray and a push-pull mechanism, the tray is fixedly connected to the push-pull mechanism, the push-pull mechanism is slidingly connected to the frame 1, the tray is loaded with a plurality of pipettes and volumetric flasks arranged in a uniform array, and the tray is driven by the push-pull mechanism to reciprocate between the inside and outside of the frame 1 (as shown in Figure 9 ), so that the volumetric flasks can be replaced in batches, and in the present embodiment, the tray is pulled out to the outside of the frame 1 for volumetric flask replacement, which is more convenient than replacing the volumetric flasks in the pipetting workstation of the prior art, and improves the pipetting volume. After the volumetric flask replacement is completed, the tray is pushed in (as shown in Figure 10 ).

[0080] The inside of the frame 1 is provided with a left-right direction moving driving mechanism 2 and an up-down direction moving driving mechanism 3, the up-down direction moving driving mechanism 3 is fixed to the left-right direction moving driving mechanism 2 through a cross beam 16 (as shown in Figure 8 ), forming a two-axis mechanical arm to realize the movement work of the pipetting mechanism 5; the pipetting mechanism 5 is connected to the up-down direction moving driving mechanism 3. The control system 7 is signal connected with the left-right direction moving driving mechanism 2 and the up-down direction moving driving mechanism 3 respectively. The control system 7 controls the start, stop and other work of the whole machine mechanism of the full-automatic pipetting workstation. The left-right direction moving driving mechanism 2 realizes the left-right direction movement of the pipetting mechanism; the up-down direction moving driving mechanism 3 realizes the up-down direction movement of the pipetting mechanism.

[0081] In this embodiment, the left-right movement drive mechanism 2 adopts a synchronous wheel transmission mechanism (see 4 and 5). The left-right movement drive motor 11 drives the synchronous wheel 8 to rotate, the synchronous wheel 8 drives the synchronous belt 9 to move, and the synchronous belt 9 drives the slider 10 to move in the left-right direction. The up-down movement drive mechanism 3 adopts a gear and rack mechanism (see 6 and 7). The up-down movement drive motor 15 drives the gear 12 to rotate, the gear 12 drives the rack 13 to move, and the guide rail 14 moves up and down with the rack 13.

[0082] The pipetting mechanism 5 includes four syringes 23 arranged side by side. The syringes 23 are used for aspiration and dispensing of liquid. Each syringe 23 is connected to a suction tube (e.g., ...) via a tubing. Figure 11 As shown), a pressure sensor 22 is installed on the upper part of the suction tube (see Figure 22). Figure 12 (As shown); syringe 23 is reusable, reducing material and replacement time costs, and its use provides higher pipetting accuracy. Syringe 23 is connected to a ball screw mechanism (see...). Figure 13 , 14 As shown, the ball screw mechanism includes a screw 18 and a ball nut 17. The ball nut 17 moves up and down along the screw 18. The piston of the syringe is fixedly connected to the ball nut 17. The injection head of the syringe is connected to a suction tube. The up and down movement of the ball nut 17 in the ball screw mechanism drives the syringe to draw or inject liquid.

[0083] The interior of frame 1 also houses a cleaning mechanism 6 (see...) Figure 15 (As shown), the cleaning mechanism 6 is in flow connection with the pipetting mechanism 5 after the pipetting is completed. The cleaning mechanism 6 includes a cleaning tank 20 and a water pump 19. The cleaning tank 20 is equipped with a level sensor 21. The water pump 19 is in flow connection with the cleaning tank 20, and the level sensor 21 is signal-connected to the water pump 19. During the cleaning operation, the cleaning solution is added to the cleaning tank 20 by the water pump 19 (see...). Figure 16 As shown), when the water level in the cleaning tank 20 reaches the required level, the water pump 19 stops working. The cleaning process involves the suction pipe being repeatedly pushed and cleaned by a syringe within the cleaning tank 20. The cleaning wastewater is then discharged by another water pump (see...). Figure 17 (as shown)

[0084] Figure 17 The present invention illustrates the operation flow of the control system in practical application.

[0085] This invention also provides a fully automated pipetting method, applied to the fully automated pipetting workstation described above, comprising the following steps:

[0086] The image in the tray is acquired by a visual recognition camera, and the image signal is transmitted to a control system, and a visual recognition algorithm is used to obtain an algorithm return value, and the algorithm return value is analyzed to identify the position information of the capacity bottle in the tray; the visual recognition algorithm includes Hough transform and gray scale conversion;

[0087] The Hough transform is used to detect straight lines and circular shapes in the capacity bottle image in the tray, and the conversion expression for detecting straight lines is:

[0088] b = -k x 0 + y 0 (1)

[0089] In formula (1), (x 0, y 0) is a point in the image space, b is a parameter in the polar coordinate system, and k is the slope of the straight line; formula (1) maps the point in the image space to a straight line in the parameter space, and the straight line parameters are determined by accumulating local maximum values;

[0090] The conversion expression for detecting circular shapes is:

[0091] (2)

[0092] In formula (2), (a, b) is the center coordinate, r is the radius, and (x, y) is the point coordinate on the circular edge;

[0093] Each edge point in the image space corresponds to a three-dimensional cone surface in the parameter space, and the cone surfaces of multiple points on the same circle intersect at a point in the parameter space, and the coordinates of the point are the radius parameters of the center coordinates;

[0094] The accumulator is used to count the possible center coordinates and radius parameters, and finally the circular target is accurately positioned;

[0095] The gray scale conversion adopts a weighted average method, and the calculation expression of the gray scale conversion is:

[0096] Gray value = 0.34 x R + 0.33 x G + 0.33 x B (3)

[0097] In formula (3), R, G and B are respectively the red, green and blue color channels;

[0098] Formula (3) converts the RGB color image into a gray scale image, which is used for subsequent data transmission and analysis processing;

[0099] The control system controls the left and right direction moving drive mechanism to operate to the liquid level, and controls the up and down direction moving drive mechanism to move downward to make the pipette connected to the syringe enter the bottom of the pipette, and the syringe is used to suck the liquid into the pipeline connected to the syringe;

[0100] The up-down direction moving driving mechanism drives the pipetting mechanism to move up, the left-right direction moving driving mechanism drives to the pipetting position, the up-down direction moving driving mechanism drives the pipetting mechanism to move down, the pipette connected to the pipette tube enters the bottom of the volumetric flask, and the pipette pushes the liquid in the pipeline connected to the pipette tube into the volumetric flask;

[0101] The up-down direction moving driving mechanism drives the pipetting mechanism to move up, the left-right direction moving driving mechanism drives to the cleaning position, the up-down direction moving driving mechanism drives the pipetting mechanism to move down, and the pipette tube connected to the pipette is inserted into the cleaning tank to clean the pipette tube; when the liquid in the cleaning tank is lost and exceeds the set liquid level threshold, the liquid level sensor sends a signal to the water pump to start the water pump to supplement the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank.

[0102] When the bottom of the pipette tube touches the pipette bottle or the volumetric flask, the pipette tube feeds an upward force to the pressure sensor, the pressure sensor sends a signal to the control system, the control system controls the corresponding mechanism to perform a protection action, prevents the bottom of the pipette tube from touching the pipette bottle or the volumetric flask due to inaccurate position during pipetting, avoids causing damage to the equipment (such as Figure 12 , and reduces the material replacement cost.

[0103] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer device, Figure 20 is a structural schematic diagram of a computer device provided by the embodiment of the present application; referring to the accompanying drawings Figure 20 , the computer device comprises an input system 23, an output system 24, a memory 22 and a processor 21; the memory 22 is used for storing one or more programs; when the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors 21, the one or more processors 21 realize the full-automatic pipetting method provided by the above embodiment; wherein the input system 23, the output system 24, the memory 22 and the processor 21 can be connected through a bus or other manners, Figure 20 take the bus connection as an example.

[0104] The memory 22 can be used as a readable and writable storage medium of the computing device, and can be used to store software programs, computer executable programs, and program instructions corresponding to the fully automatic pipetting method according to the embodiments of the present application. The memory 22 can mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area can store an operating system and at least one application program required for a function. The data storage area can store data created according to the use of the device, etc. In addition, the memory 22 can include a high-speed random access memory, and can also include a non-volatile memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, a flash memory device, or other non-volatile solid-state memory device. In some examples, the memory 22 can further include a memory remotely arranged with respect to the processor 21, and these remote memories can be connected to the device through a network. Examples of the above network include, but are not limited to, the Internet, an intranet, a local area network, a mobile communication network, and a combination thereof.

[0105] The input system 23 can be used to receive input digital or character information, and to generate key signal inputs related to the user settings and function control of the device. The output system 24 can include a display device such as a display screen.

[0106] The processor 21 executes various function applications and data processing of the device by running the software programs, instructions and modules stored in the memory 22, that is, implements the fully automatic pipetting method described above.

[0107] The computer device provided above can be used to execute the fully automatic pipetting method provided in the above embodiments, and has corresponding functions and beneficial effects.

[0108] The embodiments of the present application also provide a storage medium containing computer executable instructions, which, when executed by a computer processor, are used to perform the fully automatic pipetting method provided by the above embodiments. The storage medium is any of various types of memory devices or storage devices, and includes: installation media such as CD-ROM, floppy disks or tape systems; computer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; non-volatile memory such as flash memory, magnetic media (such as hard disks or optical storage); registers or other similar types of memory elements, etc. The storage medium can also include other types of memory or combinations thereof. In addition, the storage medium can be located in a first computer system in which the program is executed, or can be located in a different second computer system, which is connected to the first computer system through a network (such as the Internet); the second computer system can provide program instructions to the first computer for execution. The storage medium includes two or more storage media that can reside in different locations (for example, in different computer systems connected through a network). The storage medium can store program instructions (for example, computer programs) that can be executed by one or more processors.

[0109] Of course, the storage medium provided by the embodiments of the present application contains computer executable instructions, which are not limited to the fully automatic pipetting method described in the above embodiments, but can also perform related operations in the fully automatic pipetting method provided by any embodiment of the present application.

[0110] So far, the technical solutions of the present application have been described in combination with the preferred embodiments shown in the drawings, but those skilled in the art can easily understand that the protection scope of the present application is obviously not limited to these specific embodiments. Those skilled in the art can make equivalent changes or replacements to related technical features without departing from the principles of the present application, and the technical solutions after these changes or replacements will fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0111] The above description is only the preferred embodiments of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application; for those skilled in the art, the present application can have various changes and variations. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A fully automated pipetting station, characterized in that The application relates to a pipetting device. The pipetting device comprises a frame, a tray mechanism and a pipetting mechanism, the frame is internally provided with the tray mechanism and the pipetting mechanism, the frame is externally provided with a control system, the top of the frame is provided with an L-shaped metal frame, the upper portion of the L-shaped metal frame is fixedly provided with a visual identification camera, the lens of the visual identification camera faces the tray mechanism, and the visual identification camera is signal-connected with the control system. The tray mechanism comprises a tray and a push-pull mechanism, the tray is fixedly connected to the push-pull mechanism, the push-pull mechanism is slidingly connected to the frame, the tray is loaded with a plurality of pipettes and volumetric flasks arranged in a uniform array, and the tray can be reciprocally moved between the inside and the outside of the frame by the push-pull mechanism. The pipetting mechanism comprises a plurality of syringes arranged side by side, each syringe is connected with a suction tube through a pipeline, and the upper portion of the suction tube is provided with a pressure sensor.

2. The fully automated pipetting station according to claim 1, characterized in that The inside of the frame is provided with a left-right direction moving driving mechanism and an up-down direction moving driving mechanism, the up-down direction moving driving mechanism is fixedly connected to the left-right direction moving driving mechanism through a cross beam, and the pipetting mechanism is connected to the up-down direction moving driving mechanism; and the control system is signal-connected with the left-right direction moving driving mechanism and the up-down direction moving driving mechanism respectively.

3. The fully automated pipetting station according to claim 2, characterized in that The inside of the frame is further provided with a cleaning mechanism, the cleaning mechanism is flow-connected with the pipetting mechanism after pipetting is completed, and the cleaning mechanism comprises a cleaning tank and a water pump.

4. The fully automated pipetting station according to claim 1, characterized in that The syringe is connected with a ball screw mechanism, the ball screw mechanism comprises a screw rod and a ball nut, the ball nut moves up and down along the screw rod, and the piston part of the syringe is fixedly connected with the ball nut; and the injection head part of the syringe is flow-connected with the suction tube.

5. The fully automated pipetting station according to claim 2, characterized in that The left-right direction moving driving mechanism adopts a synchronous wheel transmission mechanism, the synchronous wheel transmission mechanism comprises synchronous wheels and a synchronous belt, the synchronous belt is sleeved on the synchronous wheels, a sliding block is fixedly connected to the synchronous belt, the synchronous wheels are driven to rotate by a left-right moving driving motor, the synchronous wheels drive the synchronous belt to move, and the synchronous belt drives the sliding block to move leftward and rightward.

6. The fully automated pipetting station according to claim 3, characterized in that The up-down direction moving driving mechanism adopts a gear and rack mechanism, the gear and rack mechanism comprises gears, a rack and a guide rail, the rack is fixedly connected to the guide rail, and the gears roll up and down along the rack; the gears are driven to rotate by an up-down moving driving motor, the gears drive the rack to move, and the guide rail moves up and down along with the rack.

7. A fully automated pipetting method applied in a fully automated pipetting station according to any one of claims 1-6, characterized in that, The application further relates to a pipetting method. The visual identification camera is used to collect images in the tray, the image signals are transmitted to the control system, a visual identification algorithm is used to obtain algorithm return values, and the algorithm return values are analyzed to identify the position information of the volumetric flasks in the tray. The visual identification algorithm comprises Hough transformation and gray scale conversion. The Hough transformation is used to detect straight lines and circular shapes in the volumetric flask images, and the conversion expression for detecting the straight lines is as follows: b = -k x x0 + y0 (1) In formula (1), (x0, y0) is a point in the image space, b is a parameter in the polar coordinate system, and k is a straight line slope; formula (1) maps the point in the image space to a straight line in the parameter space, and the straight line parameters are determined by accumulating local maximum values; The conversion expression of the circular shape is detected as: （2） In formula (2), (a, b) is the center coordinate, r is the radius, and (x, y) is the point coordinate on the circular edge; Each edge point in the image space corresponds to a three-dimensional cone surface in the parameter space, and the cone surfaces of multiple co-circular points intersect at a point in the parameter space, and the point coordinate is the parameter of the circle; The accumulator is used to count the possible center coordinates and radius parameters, and finally the accurate positioning of the circular target is realized; The standard Hough transform method calculated by the accumulator has a large amount of calculation and is sensitive to noise, preferably, the Hough gradient method is used, which is detected in two stages, first, the center of the circle is determined by using the edge gradient direction, and then the radius is counted by using the histogram, which significantly reduces the calculation complexity; The gray scale conversion adopts the weighted average method, and the calculation expression of the gray scale conversion is: Gray value = 0.34 x R + 0.33 x G + 0.33 x B (3) In formula (3), R, G and B are three color channels of red, green and blue respectively; Formula (3) converts the RGB color image into a gray scale image, which is used for subsequent data transmission and analysis processing; The control system controls the left-right direction moving drive mechanism to run to the liquid suction position according to the position information of the capacity bottle in the tray identified by monitoring, the up-down direction moving drive mechanism runs downward to move the pipetting mechanism downward, the liquid suction tube connected with the syringe enters the bottom of the pipette bottle, and the syringe sucks to suck the liquid into the pipeline connected with the liquid suction tube. The up-down direction moving drive mechanism runs upward to drive the pipetting mechanism upward, the left-right direction moving drive mechanism runs to the pipetting position, the up-down direction moving drive mechanism runs downward to move the pipetting mechanism downward, the liquid suction tube connected with the syringe enters the bottom of the capacity bottle, and the syringe pushes to push the liquid in the pipeline connected with the liquid suction tube into the capacity bottle. The up-down direction moving drive mechanism runs upward to drive the pipetting mechanism upward, the left-right direction moving drive mechanism runs to the cleaning position, the up-down direction moving drive mechanism runs downward to move the pipetting mechanism downward, and the liquid suction tube connected with the syringe is stretched into the cleaning tank to clean the liquid suction tube; when the liquid loss in the cleaning tank exceeds the set liquid level threshold, the liquid level sensor sends a signal to the water pump to start the water pump to supplement the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank.

8. The fully automated pipetting method according to claim 7, characterized in that, When the bottom of the liquid suction tube touches the pipette bottle or the capacity bottle, the liquid suction tube feeds back an upward force to the pressure sensor, and the pressure sensor sends a signal to the control system, and the control system controls the corresponding mechanism to perform a protection action to prevent the bottom of the liquid suction tube from touching the pipette bottle or the capacity bottle due to inaccurate position during pipetting, thereby avoiding damage to the equipment.

9. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program, characterized in that, The program is executed by the processor to realize the steps of the full-automatic pipetting method of claim 7 or 8.

10. A computer device comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, characterized in that, The processor executes the program to realize the steps of the full-automatic pipetting method of claim 7 or 8.

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