MicroDrop v1.0 software architecture

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• Core plugins
• Featured plugin: dmf_control_board

See also: MicroDrop v2.0 software architecture

Key characteristics:

• All code written in Python (version 2.7).
• Single process executing GTK 2.0 main run loop.
• All functionality added to main run loop through plugins.
  • Core plugins are included in microdrop package.
  • User plugins may optionally be installed to, for example, control hardware.
• Each plugin:
  • is implemented as a Python class
  • optionally implements one or more callback methods corresponding to signals that may be emitted by any plugin
  • optionally specifies a set of application fields to persist across application launches (e.g., application window width and height).
  • optionally specifies a set of step fields to save for each step in a protocol (e.g., actuation voltage and frequency).
• Note: All plugin callbacks are executed within the main run loop process.

TODO Add description (or link to description) to each core plugin; e.g., implemented methods

Core plugins

The following core plugins are included as part of the microdrop>=1.0,<2.0 Python package:

• App
• ConfigController
• DmfDeviceController
• ExperimentLogController
• MainWindowController
• PluginManagerController
• ProtocolController
• ProtocolGridController

Featured plugin: dmf_control_board

While the core DmfDeviceController plugin keeps track of which electrode actuation channels are on/off during each protocol step, none of the core plugins interface with actuation control hardware.

The dmf_control_board plugin controls actuation parameters for the DropBot open-source Digital Microfluidic (DMF) control system (described in detail in "Fobel et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 193513 (2013); doi: 10.1063/1.4807118").

While not included as a core plugin in the microdrop>=1.0,<2.0 Python package, the dmf_control_board plugin may be installed using MicroDrop GUI.