Build history

How Wavie got from a plywood board to the tower it is today. Dates are approximate, and earlier designs shown here were replaced; the rest of this wiki describes the current design.

The beginning: proof of concept

The idea was first proven on a plywood board. Eight servo-driven pinch valves squeezed silicone tubes into a shared manifold, a pump moved the liquid, and an Arduino ran it all, with commercial test reagents in the loop.

The proof-of-concept bench.

Running a live test on the proof of concept.

The very first pinch valve. This form was scrapped.

2025: the first CAD and the tower shape

The design moved into CAD, and the instrument took on its tower form.

An early tower in CAD, July 2025.

An early prototype was shown at a trade show in August 2025. The project has changed a great deal since.

Late 2025: one valve instead of eight

The biggest change: eight separate pinch valves became one motor-driven rotary pinch valve working on a circular eight-tube manifold. That one change is what made a small tower possible.

A printed eight-tube manifold, October 2025.

Valve parts, October 2025.

The rotary valve on its blue test frame.

The first printed cuvette, November 2025.

Early 2026: real hardware

The printed chassis came together, and the first custom boards came back from the factory.

The first assembled chassis, February 2026.

The first fabricated main board, March 2026.

First power-on.

The RGB ring lit for the first time. This test is what showed the LEDs needed a level shifter, which the RGB board now carries.

Spring 2026: fluidics and optics on the bench

An optical bench test with real cuvettes, April 2026.

An early pump prototype dispensing one drop at a time, April 2026.

An early manifold print in chemically resistant resin, April 2026.

The manifold printed in Formlabs Rigid 10K.

The chassis assembled on the bench, April 2026.

An earlier main board design, whose functions have been validated on the bench.

Now

Wavie is in development, and the Wavie Beta Kit is open for pre-order. Progress is posted on Discord.