Liquid Dispenser Automation System

A Sophisticated Laboratory Automation Simulator

Welcome to the Liquid Dispenser Automation System—a high-fidelity "Software-in-the-Loop" simulation of a laboratory instrument. This project showcases a modern, multi-layered architecture designed for high-throughput reagent handling, featuring a WPF desktop controller and a Blazor cloud dashboard.

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Key Features

• Precision Robotics Simulation: Controls an eight-tip pipette head for complex aspiration and dispensing cycles.
• Intelligent Tip Alignment: Hardware-aware logic ensuring tips only dispense when aligned with target wells, minimizing waste and contamination.

• Flexible Labware Support: Compatible with industry-standard 96-well and 384-well plates, and customizable microfluidic chips.

• Dual-Control Interface:
  • Desktop App: Real-time instrument control and physical simulation playback.
  • Cloud Dashboard: Remote monitoring (telemetry) and asynchronous job submission.
• High Performance: Built on .NET 10 with optimized asynchronous pipelines for smooth physical simulation.

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Technology Stack

Layer	Technologies
Desktop Front-end	WPF (C#), CommunityToolkit.Mvvm, Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting
Web Dashboard	ASP.NET Core (Blazor Server), Interactive Telemetry Analytics
Backend / API	ASP.NET Core Web API, Entity Framework Core (SQLite)
Core Logic	.NET 10 Class Libraries, Interface Polymorphism, Domain Models
Testing	MSTest (Simulator Logic & Math)

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Architecture & Component Design

The solution follows a clean, decoupled architecture:

1. LiquidDispenser.Core: Pure domain entities and abstractions for labware (Plates, Chips, Wells).
2. LiquidDispenser.Simulator: The "Physical" engine. Handles coordinate math, collision/alignment logic, and the instrument state machine.
3. LiquidDispenser.App (WPF): The primary operator interface. Acts as a thick client connecting to the physical simulator and streaming telemetry to the cloud.
4. LiquidDispenser.Cloud (Blazor): A modern web interface for remote laboratory management.
   • Telemetry Sink: Receives real-time instrument status via REST API.
   • Job Broker: Stores and serves pending transfer jobs to the field instruments.

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Getting Started (Visual Studio 2022)

To run the full "Software-in-the-Loop" experience:

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/omyint/liquid-dispenser.git

2. Open the Solution: Open LiquidDispenser.slnx in Visual Studio 2026 (v18.0+ recommended for .NET 10 support).
3. Set Startup Projects:
   • Right-click the Solution -> Configure Startup Projects.
   • Select Multiple Startup Projects.
   • Set both LiquidDispenser.Cloud and LiquidDispenser.App to Start.
4. Run: Press F5. The Blazor dashboard will open in your browser, and the WPF simulation will launch simultaneously.
5. Enable Cloud Mode: In the WPF app, toggle Cloud Mode to begin streaming telemetry and receiving remote jobs from the web dashboard.

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Cloud Management Dashboard

The LiquidDispenser.Cloud portal provides a high-level overview of the instrument:

• Real-time Telemetry: See exactly where the eight-tip head is positioned in the lab.
• Remote Job Submission: Create new "Transfer Jobs" (e.g., Aspirate A1 -> Dispense B2) that are queued for the instrument to pick up.

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Key Engineering Patterns

• MVVM with Source Generators: Utilizing CommunityToolkit.Mvvm for clean, boilerplate-free ViewModels.
• Asynchronous Pipelines: Use of Task.Run and CancellationToken for responsive physical movement simulation.
• Dependency Injection: Modular service registration using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.
• Software-in-the-Loop: Designing software that expects a physical response, simulated via virtual hardware.