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Announcing the Pioreactor 20ml v1.1

Announcing the Pioreactor 20ml v1.1

May 01, 2024 Posted by: Cameron Davidson-Pilon

Available today is the our first (minor) iteration on the Pioreactor 20ml! We're calling it the Pioreactor 20ml v1.1. This latest version is the culmination of lots of design tweaks over the past year. It's purely a mechanical upgrade - no electronic changes are made - but improves upon the already simple design of the Pioreactor v1.0. 

The updated Pioreactor 20ml v1.1 is now available for purchase on our website, replacing the previous v1.0 model, at the same price. We're also selling v1.0 → v1.1 upgrade kits, too! Finally, if you made a recent order with us, you will have received an email from us explaining that your order is upgraded, free of charge.

Design changes in v1.1

The biggest design change is our new two piece vial holder. Our previous design had a limitation where we needed to restrict the power output of the onboard heater, since its enclosure was made from PLA plastic. With v1.1, we've split the body into two pieces: the top is still PLA, but the bottom is printed in resilient polycarbonate. This enables us to maximize heater output without risking damage. As a result, your Pioreactor v1.1 can achieve higher temperatures more quickly.

The Pioreactor vial holder is now two pieces: top in PLA, and bottom in PC plastic.

We've also included new protection for the onboard electronics. Two o-rings are provided with Pioreactor v1.1 to prevent accidental liquid damage to the heater PCB.

Bottom vial holder, printed in polycarbonate, with gasket

But the most obvious change you'll see is legible text on the Pioreactor body!  Sorry that took so long!

 

Here's a full list of the changes we've made for v1.1:

  • New vial holder, composed of two parts. The bottom made from a high-temperature plastic, and allows you to safely raise the temperature even higher in your Pioreactor. No more "Temperature of heating surface has exceeded" warnings! 
  • New window placement that allows for better monitoring of low-volume cultures. This has the consequence of removing the 45° and 180° pockets, but they were rarely used.
  • More legible text on the vial holder.
  • Enhanced optical layout to better shield the photodiodes from mis-angled IR light.
  • New liquid protection for the onboard circuit boards
  • New top faceplate with more legible text, and better button access.
  • Stronger agitation by moving the magnets closer to the stir bar.

We've also shared the new designs on our Pioreactor printable's page, too.

And a new Pioreactor software update

Also today, we are releasing the next iteration of our Pioreactor software, version 24.5.1. This release has support for the new Pioreactor 20ml v1.1. 

This new release unlocks the Pioreactor v1.1's heater PCB to allow higher temperatures. And it has a new algorithm for temperature inference: this algorithm is both faster and more accurate than our previous algorithm.

Why v1.1? 

We chose a minor version update (versus, say, 2.0), because this only changes some mechanical design on the existing Pioreactor. Our R&D team is working on new electronics, form factors, and features to make biology even more easy and accessible for communities in the future! 

A future with Pioreactor 20ml v1.1

We are very excited about this release, and we hope you are too. The Pioreactor 20ml v1.1 offers an improved experience for all users, and gives us a new platform to build a better, more affordable, and more flexible bioreactor on.