Purchasing a Unit

min-eVOLVERs may not be purchased as a product at this time. Instead min-eVOLVER parts must be acquired individually and assembled.

Requirements for Construction

1. Soldering iron + solder - pumps will need to be soldered in place

2. Ability to through-hole solder

   1. Can be self-taught quickly through YouTube videos

Questions About min-eVOLVER Construction or Hardware?

Ask questions on the forum .

It may be helpful to have the parts page open as well, so you can identify what you need for each step.

Make Ribbon Cables

1. Measure ribbon cables and mark length (figure above A)

   1. 5" ribbon cable for pump board to min-eVOLVER PCB connection

   2. Two 4" ribbon cables for smart sleeve PCB to min-eVOLVER PCB connection

2. Cut ribbon cables to size using scissors or razor.

3. Open the connector and align to the end of the ribbon cable (figure above B)

   1. The connectors should both have the knob on the same side (figure above A, red arrows)

   2. You can apply pressure to the connector so that it stays in place as you work with it

4. Crimp on ribbon cable connectors (one on each side of cable)

   1. Be careful not to break the connectors, they're fragile!

   2. The easiest way crimp these connectors is to use a clamp or vice (figure above C), unless you have a specialized tool

Prepare case

1. Unscrew the 3 screws on the top of the case (figure below, left)

2. Unscrew the 2 screws on the bottom (figure below, right) and unscrew the right middle rubber foot (yellow arrow)

Construct Pump Board

Solder 2x8 ribbon cable connector into pump PCB, screw pumps into front of case, and solder pumps into pump PCB.

Use the below video:

Construct min-eVOLVER PCB

Solder SAMD21 Arduino

1. Place the 2x12-pin header on a workbench with the flat (non conical) side of the pins up (figure below A). Place the SAMD21 board on top of it

   1. You can also carefully plug the SAMD21 into a breadboard if you want to avoid it moving

2. Carefully solder the SAMD21 board pins.

Assemble min-eVOLVER PCB

1. Press the SAMD21 board into the min-eVOLVER PCB until you feel a click and the SAMD21 sits mostly flush

   1. Micro-USB port should be on edge of board

   2. Carefully align the pins with the sockets

OD 90 vs OD 135

1. OD90 = OD LED and photodiode at 90 degrees from eachother

2. OD135 = OD LED and photodiode at 135 degrees from eachother

3. By default, we choose to use OD90 for our vials, which is typically better at measuring higher ODs > 0.4 and is what most people want

Assemble min-eVOLVER PCB and pumps with the case

1. Place min-eVOLVER PCB on standoffs. Screw 1/4" screws into the front left and back right corners (figure A below)

2. Plug the 5" ribbon cable in to the pumps and to the ribbon cable port to the left of the SAMD21 (figure B below)

3. Close the case and replace the 5 screws and rubber foot that you had removed previously (figure C below)

Construct eVOLVER smart sleeves and screw in to case

1. If your smart sleeves came disassembled:

   1. See general smart sleeve construction guide

   2. Firmly push the OD LED and photodiodes in to the smart sleeve

Flash the min-eVOLVER with Arduino code

1. Plug the min-eVOLVER into your computer via the micro-USB cable

   1. Do not plug in the 12V power supply

2. Download the min-eVOLVER Arduino

Parts Spreadsheet

Below is a spreadsheet containing all parts required to make a min-eVOLVER.