Hi Yass,
Yes, there are many sequence libraries! The SequenceTools_V4 and its predecessors are submethod libraries that were developed and optimized by field applications specialists over the years. That submethod library has been incorporated and further optimized in the STAR Tools suite of submethod libraries - specifically the STAR Channel Tools smt. Moving forward, I am encouraging the team to contribute to this set of tools as opposed to creating “one-off” libraries and am advocating that these functions be included in future versions of VENUS.
In terms of optimal sorting, yes, I would recommend grouping everything by x ascending and then y descending. If you are hitpicking from multiple plates, then the channels can spread asymmetrically in the y to access all the wells in the same column across plates on the same carrier.
For 8 channel systems, you typically don’t have to worry about access restrictions, but if you have more than 8 channels and/or specialized channels or arms, then you could run into an issue where a specific channel can’t access the position in the y. The Channel Tools smt from the STAR Tools Suite accounts for any access issues - as you can see below, it has more functionality than the SequenceTools_V4:
The HSLSeqSort library was written in HSL and requires an executable to be run to install. The Channel Tools smt has the same functions as this HSL library, but also the additional functionality to check access as well as other commands.
I hope this helps!
-Eric