Interested to know if anyone has integrated SBS rack tube 2D barcode readers onto the deck of their liquid handler, particularly Hamilton STARline liquid handlers. I’ve seen, but not tried the easyCode carrier from Hamilton. Otherwise the ones I’ve been looking at either have a footprint that would take multiple deck spaces (e.g. AlteRead SBS rack camera - AltemisLab) or are smaller footprint but very tall (e.g. https://biotools.com.au/product/fluidx-perception-whole-rack-readers/)
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Hi Roooo,
I’ve integrated the easyCode onto the Hamilton Star. It’s a pretty large carrier and takes up space. It reads 2D barcodes well and you can get the easyCode with a 1D barcode reader option for the barcodes on the tube rack. The iSWAP was primarily used to transport the rack on and off the reader position.
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The nice thing about the EasyCode is that the data are instantly available in VENUS and you don’t have to read external files for that information processing.
The DataPaq is just slightly bigger than the rack itself and may fit easier on the deck of a Hamilton. Likely would need a custom carrier to integrate but perhaps they have already done that.
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had success with KODA Sense
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@Roooo Steribar have made some smaller more integration friendly rack readers, some of them only take up one position and double as an active position.
I am looking into integrated on deck scanners that aren’t as large as the EasyCode. What was your experience like with the KODA Sense and KODA Slim like? Was it easy to integrate? Does it play nice with Venus 6? Do you get the scan file and then able to compare it against a worklist to confirm tube positions? Any info or help would be appreciated!
Thanks!
I don’t have hands-on experience integrating KODA readers into Hamilton VENUS myself, but I know of several people that have successfully integrated them with Hamilton liquid handlers using TCP/IP and VP Server.
If Hamilton has a KODA driver available, integration should be fairly straightforward. If not, KODA uses the same command set as the Thermo and LVL readers, so if you already have support for either of those in VENUS, it should be quite easy.
The integrations I’m aware of return the rack scan data, allowing you to compare scanned tube IDs against an expected worklist and confirm tube positions before processing.
Hopefully someone with direct KODA and VENUS 6 experience can provide some more info. 
Thank you @TJL for the info! Another question, how did you end up mounting it on the deck and where? And do you use CORE Grippers to move the racks or iSWAP?
Thanks again!
The CO-RE gripper work just fine as long as you don’t need to rotate the rack. The Slim reader has the same footprint as an SBS rack so it will nest in any low level plate carrier without needing to be fixed, same goes for the compact reader but that one reads the rack while it’s being held by the gripper instead of placing it.
Hi @TJL
Thank you for the information! We will take a look into it and see what we can come up with.
Thanks!