Hamilton Venus 5

Hamilton Venus 5 is the generic, fallback device entry for the same Revolution driver behind Hamilton Star ICC, Hamilton Starlet ICC, Hamilton Vantage ICC, StarV with extension and Hamilton Nimbus ICC. Use it when the instrument on the schedule doesn’t match one of those named platform entries — the operations and configuration are identical either way, this entry just doesn’t carry any platform-specific numbers or 3D model of its own.

At a glance

Platform	Any Hamilton liquid handler run through VENUS v5 (no platform-specific figures)
Instrument software	VENUS (required — Revolution runs VENUS worklists and work steps, it does not replace them)
Revolution control	Run a worklist, run a named work step, continue, abort, liveness check

Supported methods

The pipetting itself is defined in VENUS. Revolution’s job is to trigger the right work at the right point in a schedule, using Hamilton’s instrument control concept (ICC) work-step interface.

• Execute worklist — run a VENUS worklist CSV on the instrument. The parameter is the full path and folder of the worklist file, with a timeout
• Execute work step — run a single work step: the method name (for example LoadLabware, Alive, HomeArm) and its parameter/value pairs, compiled into the VENUS exchange payload at runtime, with a timeout
• Continue VENUS work step — send the ICC Continue step, releasing a VENUS instance that is holding a work step open after a recoverable error or a pause. VENUS then does whatever the operator chose in its own dialog
• Abort VENUS work step — send the ICC Abort step, telling VENUS to abandon the running work step and return to idle, so the step can be re-sent
• Is alive — check that the VENUS connection is responding
• Abort worklist locally — stop Revolution waiting on the current worklist. This sends no abort to VENUS; the run continues on the instrument

The timeout on the two execute operations is the schedule’s only protection against a VENUS method that never returns, so set it from the real duration of the method rather than leaving a default in place. And the difference between Abort VENUS work step and Abort worklist locally matters at recovery time: only the first one stops the instrument.

Integration

Control goes through VENUS, over one of two interfaces: a file exchange on the instrument PC, or the VENUS REST API. The mode is a device setting, and it determines which of the configuration properties below are in use.

Prerequisites

• VENUS must be installed and configured on the instrument PC, with the methods and worklists the schedule will call already present. Revolution runs them; it does not author them.
• In file-exchange mode, the exchange folder must exist and be writable by both VENUS and the Revolution host.
• In REST mode, the VENUS REST server must be running and reachable from the Revolution host, and its authentication token known.
• Deck layout in VENUS and the cell layout in Revolution must agree on the positions a mover will load and unload.

Device configuration

Property	Purpose
Venus Communication Mode	File exchange or REST API. Selects which properties below apply
File Exchange Folder	Folder the driver and VENUS exchange files through, in file-exchange mode
Master To Venus Filename	File Revolution writes work steps into
Venus To Master Filename	File VENUS writes its responses into
Venus Exchange Format	Format of those exchange files
Venus REST base URL	Address of the VENUS REST server, for example https://127.0.0.1:12345
Venus REST authentication token	Sent as the token query parameter
Status poll interval	Milliseconds between GET /status polls
Request timeout	Per-request HTTP timeout in milliseconds
Accept self-signed certificate	Accept a self-signed TLS certificate from the VENUS REST server, which is typical when that server runs on localhost
PrePostLoading Worklist	Worklist run around loading, to keep the VENUS deck model in step with what a mover has put on the deck
Temporary File	Full path of the driver’s scratch file

A transfer-capable variant of the device adds Venus Device Name (the instrument’s name in VENUS), Transfer Filename, and Ensure Column Transfers, which routes labware within the same column when a deck position is otherwise unreachable for the system.

If you need more of this instrument driven from a schedule, get in touch — the driver is extended on demand.