Team:BostonU HW/Notebook


TIMELINE





TIMELINE | Building the Neptune Flow


  • 16 - 30 May 2016

    Training and Orientation

    Our project is part of an existing workflow in our lab, and during training and orientation we learned about the flow and how we fit in. We also started to test tools that we could use to build our graphical user interface and planned out what we could do with the hardware setup.


  • June 2016

    A GUI is Born

    After testing out tools, we decided to implement a web application using a node.js (operating as a local server) framework. We started ordering parts and 3D printing components to set up the hardware.


  • July 2016

    Expanding Horizons

    We started building Neptune piece by piece. From what was initially a GUI designed only to interact with hardware, the idea of Neptune as a full-fledged toolchain arose.


  • August 2016

    In the Trenches

    We carved out the major components that make up Neptune today. The Specify, Design, Build, Assemble, and Control pages were built with the end functional goal of each component clearly laid out. Many iterations of control infrastructure prototypes were made and firmware was solidified.


  • September 2016

    End-to-end Integration

    Full integration of Neptune software and hardware was made. Neptune software was stress-tested by benchmarks and levels of hardware precision were evaluated and documented.


  • October 2016

    Release

    Programming time dedicated to bug-fixing. We validated our work through multiple test cases including a collaboration with the MIT wetlab team. We released our software and hardware as open source on GitHub and NONA.