Implementation of a field programmable gate array for wireless control of a lab-on-a-robot

We report the design of a digital system to wirelessly control microchip capillary electrophoresis (CE) equipment and a mobile unit for chemical analysis. The digital system consists of an embedded processor designed for digital control, decoding and applying of wirelessly-transmitted test parameters, data acquisition, and mobility control. The design is implemented on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and its development board interfaces with four digital-to-analog converters on a newly-designed 3-channel high voltage power supply, electrochemical detector, wireless modems for communications with a base unit, mobile platform motor controllers, GPS sensor, and an air micropump. The FPGA allows for all the interfacing hardware to perform CE and transmission of the data acquired from the interfacing electrochemical detector. The work described herein extends the utilization of microchip capillary electrophoresis to include remotely controlled field applications.