LIMS & Venus Integration

[automation_viome]

Hello! Has anyone here been able to integrate Venus, and their LIMS system. If so, where do you recommend I begin?

[EricSindelar_Hamilton]

As a starting point, I would recommend reviewing this guide on interfacing LIMS with Hamilton’s automated liquid handlers. It provides a general overview of what data can be sent, what worklist files are compatible with VENUS, info on database access and web services, etc.

I am eager to hear from the community on this topic as there are many approaches one could take depending on their needs and the capabilities of the various LIMS platforms.

[sturgeoj]

Hi @EricSindelar_Hamilton

I wanted to reach out to see if there were any updates since your last post here?

I’m currently looking into the VectorDB to enable CDC on specific tables and columns (actually doing the entire db for now until I can confirm what values aren’t used by outside groups). The goal is to get Hamilton updates, like volume moves, labware moves, incubation times and more, from the database, since most actions update/insert records already.

My current issue though is my HamiltonDB creates a new DB for every method run. The format appears to be HamiltonVectorDB_{RUN GUID(?)}. Is there any way to alter the DB so that all runs update the same DB, HamiltonVectorDB?

I’ve noticed that the HamiltonVectorDB.dbo.HxRuns table lists all the methods run on a Hamilton but the HamiltonVectorDB.dbo.HxLabwareRunData table for example is empty.

It would be great to hear your thoughts! I hope it’s something simple that I’m missing or maybe a better architecture you could propose.

[EricSindelar_Hamilton]

Please refer to the following thread (one of the earliest threads on this forum!) as it sounds like Vector Database Plus may be applicable. If so, please reach out to your local sales and support team for next best steps!

Vector Database

Okay enough is enough, can someone anywhere provide a step by step guide screenshots encouraged of a how to example of how to use this part of the platform. This seems like the murkiest, black box, least utilized part of the platform, while at the same time something that has the power to answers a lot of business questions. (Logfile parsing, usage tracking, telemetry of operations) So what the heck Hamilton… where them docs at, they’re not in any of the trainings🧐

[sturgeoj]

So long ago! Thanks for linking the post that mentioned Vector Database Plus. I didn’t know Venus was an acronym at all until now too – feels like pulling the curtain back a little haha.

I’m reaching out to our sales rep now to checkout Vector Database Plus. Just for my information, does Venus 6 come with something like Vector Database Plus, or does the API handle what Plus can do and more?

If you couldn’t tell by now, all my STAR line products are still on 4.X and haven’t been able to test drive Venus 6 yet.

And I wanted to thank you for ALL your answers you replied with in this forum. You’re answers have helped me so a few tricky problems and I wanted to thank you for that.

[EricSindelar_Hamilton]

Vector Database Plus is not included with VENUS 6.

Thanks for the kind feedback! I’m glad people are finding this forum to be helpful!

[desert_platypus]

Hi There! It’s been awhile since anyone’s posted on this thread, but I was curious if you could share more information about how Venus can interact with web services using HTTP/SOAP.

I am interested in exploring my options for sending a run log containing basic sample tracking/barcode info directly to our LIMS system. Our LIMS is set up with a web based API that accepts HTTP POST requests usually in a JSON format.

Can you help me identify what libraries might be required to enable this, and provide any documentation/help files on them? Any examples you may have would also be helpful.

I should note I am running Venus 4 and cannot update.

Thanks in advance!

[Xianghua]

I have been considering an alternative approach for integrating Venus 4 software with the LIMS in the absence of a Web API. One viable solution could be to develop a middleware application to bridge the communication between Venus 4 and the LIMS. Below is a proposed outline of its key functions:

Retrieve the GUID of the latest Run
Access the HamiltonVectorDB database to obtain the GUID of the most recent run (e.g., "07278740618d4640980ba9c863e34b94").

Locate the corresponding “.trc” log file
Use the retrieved GUID to find the relevant .trc file from the directory:
C:\Program Files (x86)\HAMILTON\LogFiles.

Parse the “.trc” file to extract key information
Read and analyze the .trc file to extract the required data, such as barcodes, labware, or pipetting steps.

Transmit the extracted data to the LIMS
Send the parsed data to the LIMS using a suitable communication protocol.

Best regards