microdrop

MicroDrop is a graphical user interface for the DropBot digital microfluidics control system (described in detail in Fobel et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 193513 (2013)).

If you use this information in work that you publish, please cite as appropriate.

Table of Contents generated with DocToc

• Installation
  • No existing Python 2.7 32-bit Windows installation (recommended)
  • Existing anaconda (Python 2.7 32-bit Windows) installation (recommended)
  • Create a separate conda environment for MicroDrop
  • Other Python 2.7 32-bit Windows installation (using pip)
  • Shortcuts
  • Import profile
• Profile Manager (new)
  • Import profile
  • Remove profile
• Install plugins
  • Featured plugins
  • Install plugins through MicroDrop plugin manager (mpm)
  • Install plugins through MicroDrop GUI
• Credits

Installation

MicroDrop can be installed using any of the methods below.

No existing Python 2.7 32-bit Windows installation (recommended)

Download installer for latest MicroDrop 1.0 release.

This installer is a customized distribution of the popular Miniconda Python.

Existing anaconda (Python 2.7 32-bit Windows) installation (recommended)

Run:

conda install -c wheeler-microfluidics "microdrop>=1.0,<2.0" microdrop-launcher

Note the -c wheeler-microfluidics flag allows installing conda packages from the wheeler-microfluidics channel.

Create a separate conda environment for MicroDrop

Run:

conda create -n microdrop -c wheeler-microfluidics "microdrop>=1.0,<2.0" microdrop-launcher

To activate the MicroDrop conda environment, run:

activate microdrop

To deactivate the MicroDrop conda environment, run:

deactivate

See "Managing environments" section of Conda documentation for more information.

Other Python 2.7 32-bit Windows installation (using pip, not recommended)

1. Update pip:

   pip install -U pip
   

2. Install microdrop from PyPi:

   pip install --find-links http://192.99.4.95/wheels --trusted-host 192.99.4.95 "microdrop>=1.0,<2.0"
   

Note 192.99.4.95 is the IP address of the official MicroDrop update server where MicroDrop dependencies not available on PyPI are stored as wheels.

Shortcuts

If MicroDrop is installed using a Conda Python distribution (including the official installer)

• Documentation: Open online MicroDrop documentation.
• GitHub project: Open MicroDrop GitHub project page.
• MicroDrop Profile Manager: Launch MicroDrop profile manager.
• MicroDrop environment prompt: Launch Windows command prompt with MicroDrop Conda environment activated.
• MicroDrop: Launch MicroDrop if only one profile is available (default). Otherwise, launch MicroDrop Profile Manager to select profile to launch.
  • Tip: Right-click on shortcut to pin to taskbar for easy access.

Import profile

If existing profile directory is not automatically found, it can be manually imported by launching the "MicroDrop Profile Manager" shortcut.

See Profile Manager section below.

Profile Manager (new)

In environments where, for example, multiple users are using the same computer to perform MicroDrop experiments, it can be helpful to create separate MicroDrop profiles. Each MicroDrop profile contains devices and plugins, as well as experiment logs.

The MicroDrop Profile Manager provides an interface to manage one or more MicroDrop profiles. Initially, the default profile path (i.e., <Documents>\Microdrop) is listed.

As shown below:

• Profiles are listed according when they were last launched, with the most recently used profile first.
• Existing profiles may be imported.
• Listed profiles may be removed from the profile list (and optionally deleted entirely).
• Listed profiles may be opened in the system file browser.
• MicroDrop may be launched using any of the listed profiles.

Import profile

When an existing profile is imported, plugin dependencies are installed while the following dialog is displayed:

Remove profile

The following dialog is displayed when the Remove button for a listed profile is clicked:

Clicking the Remove button in the dialog removes the corresponding profile from the list, but does not delete any files. The profile can be imported to add it back to the profile list.

Warning: Clicking the Remove with data button in the dialog removes the corresponding profile from the list, and deletes the profile directory. This cannot be undone.

Install plugins

Plugins can either be installed using the MicroDrop plugin manager command-line tool, or through the MicroDrop user interface.

Featured plugin

• dmf_control_board
  • Control actuation parameters for the DropBot open-source Digital Microfluidic (DMF) automation system.

Install plugins through MicroDrop plugin manager (mpm)

The Microdrop plugin manager is a command-line tool (inspired by pip) for managing (e.g., install, uninstall) Microdrop plugins.

For full usage details, see the project home page.

Basic usage to install a plugin:

• Start MicroDrop environment command prompt using the following shortcut:

  

• In MicroDrop environment command prompt, run:

   python -m mpm -c <microdrop settings directory>\microdrop.ini install plugin [plugin [plugin ...]]
  

To install featured plugin:

python -m mpm -c <microdrop settings directory>\microdrop.ini install dmf_control_board

Install plugins through MicroDrop GUI

1. Install plugins:

   

2. Relaunch MicroDrop.

Credits

Ryan Fobel [e-mail]

Christian Fobel [e-mail]