Hudson SOLO™ – Flexible & Affordable Automated Pipettor
The Hudson SOLO™ is a flexible & affordable automated pipettor. It packs a big WOW in a small size and leaves a small dent in your budget.
The SOLO is a available in a number of single and multi-tip configurations depending on your needs.
SOLO – single channel is available for working primarily within a plate or for those applications where you need to bulk dispense a volume of liquid into a tube or microplate and transfer samples from tube to tube or well to well.
The SOLO -single tip is available in sizes from 25ul to 10ml. Check out a cherry picking demo:
The SOLO – multi-tip is available with either an 8-tip pipette head or 12-tip pipette head. The SOLO is standard with a 6 position deck. No worries if you need to transfer samples quickly from plate to plate and then other times do a serial dilution across the plate. The SOLO easily adapts without any tools to both heads. Use the 12-tip head to finish plate to plate transfers 50% faster than the 8-tip head, remove the head and add the 8 position head for easy serial dilutions.
Watch a serial dilution with the SOLO:
Did you want to cherry pick individual wells? No problem. The SOLO multi-tip has spring loaded cannulas and advanced software controls. The 8 & 12 tip heads can work with 1,2,3 or all the tips without any issues. There is no need to switch to a single tip pipette head. The SOLO mutli-tip offers a broad pipetting range of 5ul to 200ul with a single pipette head. The mechanical drive, software controls and structural format of the pipette head allow the SOLO to push the boundaries of pipetting performance. With CVs of less than 5% across the entire pipetting range users can save valuable time and expense by using a single pipette head. Small volume pipette heads are available for working between 1ul and 20 ul.
The SOLO multi-tip automated pipettors provide many benefits to the lab:
- 8 & 12 tip heads are available
- The 12 tip head performs plate to plate transfers 50% faster than 8-tip systems
- The 8 & 12 tip SOLO instruments can use only 1 tip without compromising performance saving valuable time and expenses
- The SOLO offers a broad range of accurate pipetting volumes, from 5ul to 200 ul with a 5% or lower CV
- The standard 6 position deck has 50% more capacity than a 4 position deck
- The SOLO comes standard with email functionality in the software that alerts the user when a run is completed or there is an error of some kind.
- The SOLO can easily be integrated with additional instruments and software as needed and at anytime.
- The SOLO is easily customized for unique or specialized applications
Accessories
SOLOSoft Software
SOLOSoft is the software program included with the SOLO Automatic Pipettor. It can be used as a direct control panel to operate the the SOLO in standalone mode, or it can be run in the background by SoftLinx as part of an automated workcell. Procedures designed in SOLOSoft can be saved to files that can be opened and used at a later time, and can be included as a parameter of the SOLO instrument object in SoftLinx. The main screen is shown below. The right side illustrates the flow of the current method. The left side shows the parameters of the currently selected step of the method – the aspirate step in the following case:
The softtware makes it easy to define what type of plates occupy each of the four available nests on the deck of the SOLO. Plate type selection provides important information to the SOLOSoft error checking features, so that tips are placed in the correct position for liquid transfer and processes beyond the available capacity of the liquid handler are forbidden.
Applications
The SOLO was developed to meet the growing need throughout the research, pharmaceutical and clinical communities for a high resolution compact robotic pipettor. It can be adapted to any research activity which requires the accurate addition, removal and mixing of liquied samples/reagents – including those containing live cells. The product can be integrated with other automated instruments for seamless process control and flexibility and has many uses in applications involving:
- PCR* Preparation
- DNA Transformations and transfections
- Serial Dilutions
- High-Throughput Cherry Picking
- Bioreactor sampling and feeding
- Maldi spotting
- Plating bacterial colonies
*PCR is a licensed technology of Life Technologies
Features
The SOLO™ easily fits on lab benchtops and into standard fume hoods and biosafety cabinets. It can automate large and small volume experiments, is adaptable to common well plate formats and can improve the quality and reliability of research. The SOLO can work as an unattended stand alone instrument which can save time and decrease cost and users can learn to use Hudson’s Softlinx software in just minutes. The product also can preserve sterlility and avoid cross-contamination while dispensing into slides and microplates.The SOLO high-throughput single-channel pipettor has features researchers will find very desirable in a benchtop instrument including:
- Compact 14″ x 16″ (355mm x 400mm) footprint
- 8-, 24-, 96-, 384- and 1536-well dispensing
- Compatible with vials, test tubes, reagent reservoirs
- Non-contact dispensing into microplates and slides
- Product offers a very broad dynamic volume range
- Ability to handle reactions in a sterile environment
- Fully compatible with robot loading systems or can be used manually as a stand alone unit
- In-line track/stacker compatibility for unparalleled high-throughput
- Communicates with each instrument via a serial port and comes with its own easy-to-use GUI.
- Includes Hudson Control Group’s SoftLinx software, which provides an easy-to-use interface to coordinate the SOLO’s operation with other automated instruments
- The new Solo has the added capability of supporting a grouping of multiple syringes (up to 10) with varying bore sizes to support very tiny (<1 μL) to very large (>100 μL) aspirating and dispensing volumes, all on the same unit.
- The new SOLO has an optional peristaltic pump for high-speed tip washing, which saves cycle time vs. traditional washing with a syringe-pump.
Specs
Plate Capacity: 4 positions; unlimited with optional stackers
Plate Format: SBS standard footprint, any well configuration
Housing material: Stainless main deck; painted steel upper arm covers over
machined aluminum structural components
Spill Protection: All electronics protected by solid, non-penetrated cover to
prevent any leakage onto electrical devices
Arm Mechanism
Horizontal Travel/Vertical Stroke: x=18.55″; y=9.57″; z=3.09″
Size: 22in. x 14″ x 16″ (H xWx D)
Weight: 50lbs
Computer Interface: RS-232 serial cable
Accuracy Data: The following table summarizes the results of 2500 gravimetric-validated dispenses of water at various volumes using the four standard tip sizes. Similar accuracy has been demonstrated with different solvents, buffer systems, and cellular suspensions of Jurkat cells.
The results in the first two tables were obtained using the SOLO equipped with a 125μL syringe.
Tip Size μL |
Avg Vol μL |
Avg CV |
| 10 | 1-10 | 1.75 |
| 20 | 3-16 | 1.12 |
| 50 | 3-32 | 1.41 |
| 250 | 3-50 | 1.59 |
Volume Range μL |
Tip Size μL |
CV |
Avg CV |
| 1-3 | 10 | 2.72 | 2.72 |
| 3-5 | 10 | 0.77 | 1.50 |
| 20 | 1.33 | ||
| 50 | 1.35 | ||
| 250 | 2.56 | ||
| 5-10 | 10 | 1.75 | 1.45 |
| 20 | 1.12 | ||
| 50 | 1.47 | ||
| 250 | 1.45 | ||
| 10-50 | 20 | 0.91 | 1.03 |
| 50 | 1.40 | ||
| 250 | 0.77 |
The following table was generated using a SOLO equipped with two sizes of syringe pumps. When equipped with a 25μL syringe, the SOLO can dispense 400nL with CVs below 3%.
Syringe Size μL |
Avg Vol μL |
Avg CV |
| 500 | 50 | 0.51 |
| 500 | 25 | 0.52 |
| 500 | 12 | 1.23 |
| 500 | 5 | 5.3 |
| 25 | 12 | 0.24 |
| 25 | 6 | 0.27 |
| 25 | 3 | 0.36 |
| 25 | 1 | 1.75 |
| 25 | 0.4 | 2.82 |
Below are some timing results based on filling each well of a 96 well plate with 5uL of liquid.
Method |
Average Time
|
| Dispense from a resevoir | 1:43 |
| Dispense from a plate | 1:53 |
| Copy plate – well by well | 6:18 |
| Copy plate – well by well with 96 tip changes |
29:04 |