(p.s. gage blocks can be relatively cheap, “Mitutoyo Steel Rectangular Gage Block”, can be had for ~$15.)
If I understand well, one of the main functions of nesting_z_height is to define the z coordinate of the lid relative to the plate in line 104 of plate.py:
location = location or Coordinate(0, 0, self.get_size_z() - self.lid.nesting_z_height)
I have found a plate where the nesting_z_height cannot be computed or measured from the lid itself alone: Corning REF# 3471. Here, the nesting_z_height is limited by the plate. Forgive the diagram:
As you can see, not the entire length of the lid skirts is used to nest, thus the previous methods will not work universally. Using the “stepped edge” calipers method, I measured this at 8.00 mm. Does this mean we will need two variables (one for plate nesting, one for lid nesting)?
Do you mean Corning cat no.: 3471?
Do you have a picture of the plate plus lid?
@rickwierenga and I talked about having another attribute to deal with exactly this situation.
But we deemed it incredibly unlikely that it ever would be needed because the lid does not make sense to be designed like this:
It actively fosters condensation-based cross-contamination and makes splashing of one well into another possible.
The documentation of Corning cat. no. 3471 says " * Nonreversible lids with condensation rings to reduce contamination*".
How would these rings avoid contamination if they are millimetres above the well orifice that they are supposed to seal?
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If the original lid of this plate is indeed not possible to be defined by the nesting_z_height alone we should identify how common this plate lid relationship actually is.
Adding another attribute to be measured increases complexity of the lid definition, and we try to only require the minimal needed information for maintainability reasons.
If this is a one off situation or if people would like to use lid’s that have not been designed for a particular plate, and then this situation arises, I would argue against adding another attribute to be defined for all plate-lid interactions.
Instead people can just hand the lid location coordinate directly to this special definition.
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The distance is about 0.5 mm, I can feel it move when I push down the lid. I think the rings are also not supposed to completely seal the well, but rather stop condensation from spreading across the lid and eventually form droplets which can drop down into the other wells. Condensation would drop into well of origin instead with these rings
(For sake of accuracy: the ‘pedestal’ z is 8 mm, but I found there’s some small notches on the corners that lead to a nesting_z_height of 6.4 mm, the inner z of the lid walls are 6.9 mm)