Connectors on outside of the box

[christiankuttke]

The box has electrical and water lines to connect it to the boat.

All cables and lines should connect to the camera box via connectors. The camera box should be able to disconnect from all lines. The box, its components and lines should not spill, dry out, or break when disconnected. Connectors presented to the outside when the box is closed should be somewhat ruggedized.

• Electric
  • Power input
  • GPS antenna connector
• Water
  • Sample water in
  • Water output

Questions to be determined:

• Should the microscope run while the lid is closed? If yes:
  • No lines can be squeezed in the closed lid
  • Heat needs to be transported outside the case (Fan or Liquid cooling?)
• What protection against water and dust/particle ingress does it need? IP rating
• Is there a filtered fresh water supply suitable for liquid cooling?

[christiankuttke]

The water tubes probably use a push-to-connect fitting, which are usually without shut-off valve, but there are some available with shut-off valve: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/pneumatic-hose-fittings/

Gardena connector was mentioned: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/fittings/thread-type~ght/quick-disconnect-garden-hose-couplings/ Plugs don't have shut-off valve, but sockets are available with shut-off valve.

There are connectors typically found on excavators called "International Standard ISO Minimal-Spill Quick-Disconnect Hose Couplings for Hydraulic Fluid" which have shut-off valves in both coupling parts. https://www.mcmaster.com/products/couplings/international-standard-iso-minimal-spill-quick-disconnect-hose-couplings-for-hydraulic-fluid-9/

Maybe someone has experience with lab equipment fluid-carrying connectors.

[christiankuttke]

Industrial settings use manual shut-off valves and non-valved connectors and accept a little bit of spill on disconnect.

[beniroquai]

Questions to be determined:

• Should the microscope run while the lid is closed? If yes:

Yes. It should operate while lid is closed. Eventually we would need a fan to cool the device, too.

• No lines can be squeezed in the closed lid

Exactly. Therefore we would need to drill holes for through-hole connectors.

• Heat needs to be transported outside the case (Fan or Liquid cooling?)

Fan

• What protection against water and dust/particle ingress does it need? IP rating

Good question. No IP41 or something. I'd say if the lid is closed major dust particles won't enter. I'm assuming there is no water inside the boat, so no water protection necessary

• Is there a filtered fresh water supply suitable for liquid cooling?

Na' too complicated. Fan is good :)

Regarding Gardina, I think we will have a bypass from garden to something a lot smaller in diameter.Would you mind checking the planktoscope which one they use :) https://www.planktoscope.org/

[christiankuttke]

From the planktoscope paper's supplemental materials, here is the fluidic materials list:

Planktoscope uses the following:

• Their microfluidic slide is this: https://ibidi.com/channel-slides/50--slide-i-luer.html. it has Luer female ports. That is the standardized friction-fit syringe geometry consisting of cylinder surfaces tapered at a very specific angle to eventually seal watertight and be a mechanical connection.
• The Luer female port on the slide does not have "wings" compatible with Luer Lock. They adapt it to 1.6mm ID silicone tubing with 2 Luer male to 1.6mm (ID) adapters.
• They use 1.6mm tubing to Luer Lock adapters to attach securely to the syringe. The syringe has a cylinder with inwards facing screw thread surrounding the Luer male end.

If we use Luer ports at the outside of our device, it will have to have separate manual shut-off valves in front of the Luer ports of boat and/or our box. Maybe our box doesn't drip too much when disconnected due to the peristaltic pump restricting free flow.

Most practically the box would have female locking Luer ports for inlet and outlet (to run/purge it using syringes), but it would have to stick out and the wings would be at risk of breaking off. Maybe there is a ruggedized solution.

[beniroquai]

there is also an up-to-date BOM from the planktoscope in case of interest: https://github.com/PlanktoScope/PlanktoScope/blob/master/hardware/v2.5/bom.csv