Our work on Otto, the Franz diffusion cell autosampler, has been spotlighted by the HardwareX journal in a recent podcast interview, Building OTTO: What an open source 3D printer is doing for drug research.
Liam Archbold and I were invited to talk through the project, covering both the technical design and the backstory, particularly our motivation to show that useful lab automation can be built using low‑cost, open, and modifiable hardware rather than proprietary systems.
It’s been encouraging to see a very practical piece of open hardware work developed at School of Pharmacy Newcastle University reach a wider audience. I hope that it will prompt others to adapt, reuse, or rethink how lab tools are designed, shared, and validated.
A very special shoutout to Hayley Chan and Wing Man Lau for their contributions to Otto. Thank you EPSRC and Newcastle University for funding, and thanks to everyone who has supported us along the way to make the project a success.
Learn more about Otto: