VasoTracker Temperature Sensor
When we were learning pressure myography, we quickly realized that the quickest way to screw up an experiment was to cook your isolated blood vessels. To help us avoid that, we use The VasoTracker Temperature Sensor to make sure our experimental bath temperature stays at a balmy 37oC. The system is open source and is built using an Arduino and some very simple electronics. Use with our Pressure Myography Software to continuously record temperature.
Required components:
| Part | Supplier | Part # | Qty | £/unit | Total (£) | Website link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arduino Uno | RS Components | A000066 | 1 | 20.7 | 17.00 | RS Components website link |
| 12V Power Supply | RS Components | 903-7048 | 1 | 5.81 | 5.81 | RS Components website link |
| SparkFun Arduino ProtoShield Kit | Robot Shop | RB-Spa-1606 (DEV-13820) | 1 | 9.21 | 9.21 | Robot Shop website link |
| LCD Shield | Mouser | RB-Cyt-73 | 1 | 9.01 | 9.01 | Robot Shop website link |
| 10k NTC Thermistor (with resistor) | Adafruit | 372 | 1 | 4.00 | 4.00 | Adafruit website link |
| Jumper wire kit | Robot Shop | RB-Cix-02 | 1 | 3.98 | 3.98 | Robot Shop website link |
| 2-Pin Screw Terminal 3.5mm | Robot Shop | RB-Dfr-465 | 1 | 0.63 | 0.63 | Robot Shop website link |
| Total | 49.54 |
Building the Temperature Monitor:
- Build the proto shield. For AdaFruit, solder on the headers and snap off the removable part of the PCB.
- Build the temperature sensor circuit on the proto shield, as shown above. The thermistor should be connected to the shield using a screw terminal.
- Stack the proto shield on top of the Arduino.
- Stack the LCD Shield on top of the proto shield
- Connect the power supply to the Arduino. To supply sufficient power, we recommend a 12V power supply. Only use the USB cable for data transmission.
- Optionally, build an enclosure. You can build one usingLego®, or you can 3D print one of the enclosures below.
Notes:
- If you want to power the temperature monitor and pressure monitor using a single power supply then you should remove the Vin and GND pins from the proto shield. You can daisy chain these Arduino pins. Hint…. this is only useful if you want to use the dual enclosure.
Programming the VasoTracker Temperature Controller:
- Download the Arduino .ino file below.
- Download and install the Arduino IDE
- Open and upload the code to the Arduino by clicking the upload button
Arduino sketch for the VasoTracker temperature monitor (no temperature control).
3D-printed enclosure
Thanks to Nathan Tykocki, you can 3d-print an enclosure for your pressure sensor. For a sneak peek, see the Fusion 360 widget at the bottom of the page.
Sketchup, Fusion 360, step, and stl files for the VasoTracker temperature monitor enclosure. Designs most generously contributed by Nathan Tykocki (check out the Tykocki lab). Some proto shields and LCD shields may not quite fit. If this is the case, we have provided various file formats that you can modify. Please do not ask us to!