Quadra 4 Operator Manual
Tomtec
130
Because of their ability to infeed/outfeed to both stackers on a given side, positions 1,3
are best suited for plates being stacked. All 20 of each plate should be placed in the
rear stacker of the respective side. In this case the assay plates will be in the right rear
stacker and be infeed to position 3. The magnetic nest is going to be used on
the compound plate, so if the compound plates are on the left side, the magnetic
nest should be on position 1 (below the left rear stacker). Positions 2 and 5 are still
open for the remaining reservoirs. The magnetic bead reservoir may be placed
anywhere in relation to the pipetting head and the compound plate (for time
conservation).
A logical choice would be position 2. The ETOH reservoir is also going to be used on
the compound plate, and therefore should be as close to the compound plate as
possible. In this case, position 6 would be the wisest choice. For a waste disposal
reservoir, the ultra-sonic unit is a practical choice because it can be emptied into a
vacuum trap and is already on the shuttle. However, since there is an empty shuttle
positions it is just as easy to use a separate waste reservoir located at positions 5.
In general, positions 2 and 5 are very important because they can access both sides
(left and right) of the robot. Position 2 is the MOST important because it can access all 4
stackers. While 1,2, and 3 can access both front and back stackers, 4, 5, and 6 can only
access the front.
8.5 Writing The Protocol
Now that the labware has been selected and placed in its proper location, the actual
writing can begin. Since all 20 plates are going to be processed in the exact same
way, the program should begin with a loop command x20. An assay plate and
a compound plate are both going to be brought in at the same time, so loop both
stackers x20. By selecting this option plates are infeed automatically to positions 1,3,
and will be outfeed to the front stackers at the loop end command. The transfer
will now have both the "begin loop" command and the "end loop" command. Leave
these how they are for the time being. The next step is to aspirate the re-suspended
magnetic bead reagent.
To get the reagent re-suspended you can do one of two things, you can manually mix
it with the pipetting head a number of times, or you can chose to place it on a
shaking nest that will keep the reagent re-suspended. Assuming that the more
time effective shaker nest is used, the next step would be Aspirate 20uL from
position 2. The next step would be to Dispense 20uL to plate in position 3. The
bead reagent now needs to be mixed with reagent X in the plate. Select the mix
option on the left of the screen. For more efficient mixing, aspirate off the bottom of the
well and dispense higher up in the well. The magnetic nest needs to be turned on in
position.
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