Microcontrollers, the IoT and our Laboratories

This course will introduce attendees to the integration of low-cost sensors and microcontrollers to build tools for laboratory applications such as monitoring and control. This course will provide an  overview about how laboratory hardware can be connected with cloud-based systems to create a laboratory or enterprise-wide network for real time data collection and analysis.

The course will also provide a hands-on experience with the popular ESP8266 microcontroller and Arduino programming environment. Participants will walk through installation of the development environment, hardware testing, data collection, data analysis, controlling switches and cloud integration.

Please note: It's important to understand how accessible and easy to use microcontrollers are. To demonstrate this, the course has hands-on exercises where attendees will build useful solutions with the beginner-friendly Arduino platform. Participants will receive a kit containing a micro-controller and the hardware to complete these exercises in class and will also need a laptop computer with at least one USB port and the ability to install the Arduino programming environment (administrator privileges). The cost of the kit is included with the course fee and attendees will be able to take the kit home in order to continue exploration.

Who Should Attend?

This is an introductory course and does not require any programming or electronics experience.  Everything needed to build simple systems will be provided.

• Those interested in what the IoT is and how it will impact them
• Those who want to begin to explore creating their own monitoring/control systems or who are looking for low cost tools for constructing laboratory instruments
• Instrument vendors looking to leverage low cost microcontrollers for system monitoring

Course Benefits

• Development of a basic understanding of the IoT
• Acquire hands-on experience with Arduino
• Gain insight into how microcontrollers can be used in the laboratory
• Understand how many sensors and microcontrollers can be integrated with each other and the cloud to form complex data gathering and instrument control networks

Course Topics

• What are Microcontrollers, Sensors and “Smart Objects”
• Using Arduino to Collect and Report Signals
• Using Arduino to Respond to Events and Control Output
• General Overview of IoT and the Cloud
• Hands-on Building of Basic Systems Using Arduino

Instructors

Erik M. Werner
University of California, Irvine

Erik is a microfluidics engineer with over ten years of experience using open-source electronics to automate the laboratory. He has lead workshops teaching microelectronics through numerous education and outreach programs and is experienced in electronics and software from embedded systems to desktop user interfaces. He recently earned his Ph.D. from UC Irvine developing an automated droplet microfluidic system for high throughput screening.

Justin Provchy
Terray Therapeutics

Justin Provchy is the Director of Automation at Terray Therapeutics. He has worked as an automation engineer since 2003 and has extensive experience implementing commercial laboratory automation. Justin has also designed and built several custom laboratory automation platforms. He has been involved with SLAS since 2003, presenting multiple posters and serving as a teacher for the Liquid Handling Bootcamp short course. He received a Masters of Bioscience in 2003 from the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences and a Masters of Mechanical Engineering from UCLA in 2017.