ACI — Automated Chip Inspector

Driver software for automated optical inspection of Lab-on-Chip experiments via microscope. Developed at IMSAS, University of Bremen as part of the LifeChip project.

What It Does

ACI controls a two-axis piezo stage (Newport CONEX Super Agilis) over serial to automate microscope scanning routines for Lab-on-Chip experiments. Users manually jog to positions of interest, save them as waypoints, optionally insert timed delays, and then run the full routine repeatedly — fully hands-free.

All routines can be saved to file and reloaded for repeatable measurement campaigns.

Features

• Joystick-style stage control — arrow key navigation with 4 configurable step sizes (smallest → biggest)
• Waypoint + delay routines — mix position waypoints and timed sleep elements in any order via drag-and-drop list
• Routine persistence — save and reload routines from .aci configuration files
• Repeat with N repetitions — set cycle count; progress bar tracks overall completion with time-remaining readout
• Axis flexibility — swap X/Y axes and reverse individual axes via checkboxes without rewiring
• Serial auto-detection — COM port dropdown auto-populates from available system ports
• Dark UI — styled with qdarkstyle for long lab sessions

Keyboard Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
Move Up / Down / Left / Right	Arrow keys
Save position	Enter
Add delay	D
Start / Stop routine	Space
Step size 1–4	1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Move to min / max limit	N / M
Save routine	Ctrl+S
Close	Ctrl+X
Delete selected step	Del

Hardware

Natively targets the Newport CONEX Super Agilis Piezo Driver (2-axis, serial at 921600 baud, closed-loop mode). The serial communication layer is isolated in write_x() / write_y(), making it straightforward to adapt to other serial-controlled stages.

Installation

Windows (pre-built)

Download the latest release for Windows: Download ACI v1.3

From Source

git clone https://github.com/JuliusPinsker/ACI.git
cd ACI
pip install -r requirements.txt
python ACI.py

Requirements: Python 3.7+, PyQt5, pyserial, qdarkstyle, quamash

Usage

1. Launch ACI (python ACI.py or the Windows executable)
2. Select COM ports for X and Y axes from the dropdowns and click Connect X / Connect Y
3. Jog to a position of interest using arrow keys, then press Enter to save it as a waypoint
4. Optionally add Sleep delays between waypoints using the delay spinbox
5. Set the number of Repetitions and press Space (or Start) to run the routine
6. Save the routine via File → Save (Ctrl+S) for reuse

Project Context

ACI was developed at the Institute for Microsensors, -actuators and -systems (IMSAS) at the University of Bremen as part of the LifeChip research project, which focuses on microfluidic Lab-on-Chip systems for biological and chemical analysis via automated optical microscopy.

License

GPL — see LICENSE.