hello !
We've just released our next software update: 4.6.0. This update includes a new feature: Opentrons protocol timers. It will generate a more accurate and reliable OT-2 user experience by instantly estimating the duration of any protocol you create. In this article, we'll provide a detailed overview of this new feature.
Background
Using Opentrons in your workflow should give you optimized efficiency. However, running a scheduling protocol on the OT-2 while managing the rest of the day-to-day laboratory responsibilities is not always straightforward. If the protocol's runtime is known, you can plan when to start, move on to other projects or tasks, and return to OT-2 when complete. However, the process is very difficult to schedule when creating new protocols or fine-tuning old protocols with unknown runtimes. This may take more time than expected - especially if you are constantly refining the protocol and must run each iteration in full to see how it changes your experiment and results.
This feedback comes from our user base and internal teams. That's why we made protocol timers.
Overview
Protocol Timer reads your protocol file and considers the duration of each individual step, summing them up into a total protocol run time. This includes picking up and dropping tips, basic and advanced liquid handling steps, module features, pipette flow rates, gantry movement times, and more. Now, all of this is pre-computed when generating the final time estimate for the scenario.
Use a timer
For this beta version, protocol timers are hosted only on the command line, included as the "-e" flag in opentrons_simulate:
The "estimated protocol duration" will then appear in the simulation output:
Both Protocol Designer protocol files and Python API protocol files are accepted by Protocol Timer and will be simulated using the methods described above.
If you're new to Python and/or the command line, please see the instructions in our support article, which will walk you through the setup process.
Future improvements
Encouraged by the results of the protocol timer test data outlined in the support article, we're excited to release it to the Opentrons community - and improve this feature with your help.
Note: The protocol timer is still in beta, so its accuracy estimate may drop below 90%. Also, this test version doesn't take pause time into account, so you'll need to add total pause time to the estimate to make it completely accurate. As the project continues to be developed based on input and feedback from Opentrons users, please fill out this form and provide additional suggestions for improving the product, or if the estimated accuracy of your protocol is better than 10%.
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