I just wanted to post a custom library that can animate functions called within a Venus method for a STAR/STARlet or STARplus. It will run anywhere from 10% - 100% of actual speed and runs parallel with the method being run. Animations will be shown on the deck layout and the arm will automatically populate itself based on the configuration of the system being used.
It is recommended to use this library as a means to gather timing information, context for travel lanes, reach restrictions, etc. I would not recommend using it for full workflows or scheduled methods as it does add quite a bit of bulk to the method as it is a hefty library.
It’s a method *.pkg file so you would import it using the VENUS method editor. It will import the STAR_Animations smt library and a simple demo method.
Thanks! Working on a Mac I assumed it was some form of stand-alone package but judging from the screenshot in the original post, it makes total sense, that it’s in Venus.
It does use a lot of resources since the library runs in parallel while moving labware around after calculations. VENUS is a 32-bit software which limits the amount of memory that can be utilized at one time. The more resources that are taken from the computer, the more lag you are going to notice unfortunately. Running in a VM for example will never be as smooth. When testing this library, I made sure it ran smoothly with the recommended computer configurations so nothing extensive is required.
The library does take into account lag with its calculations of distance over time based on the speed and acceleration of what the arm/channels should be running at. So if it takes it longer to make a calculation, you will see it jump to where it should be at that time. 16 channels for example will look choppier than 8 as it has to calculate more reps between loops. The over-all time should remain consistent though with the calculation compensation, which at the time was my goal.
This being said a supercomputer with a high-end graphics card and processor will always look better than an off the shelf laptop running this library
While I will probably never use this due to limitation in how we program methods and that we run with Vantage instrumentation; I do want to say thank you so much for creating these awesome libraries. This is the reason I will always suggest Hamilton liquid handlers to colleagues.
