{"id":1463,"date":"2026-01-07T14:54:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T14:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/kengng\/?p=1463"},"modified":"2026-01-07T14:57:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T14:57:14","slug":"new-paper-shows-how-to-build-otto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/kengng\/news\/new-paper-shows-how-to-build-otto\/","title":{"rendered":"New paper shows how to build Otto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Ng KW, Archbold L, Lau WM. Building Otto: An open-source Franz diffusion cell autosampler for automating in vitro skin permeation studies. HardwareX. 2026;25:e00735. doi: <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ohx.2025.e00735\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10.1016\/j.ohx.2025.e00735<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ohx.2025.e00735\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read Full Text<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-wide\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p>We have recently published a paper in <em>HardwareX<\/em> describing the design and construction of Otto, an open-source autosampler robot for Franz diffusion cell experiments. Otto is built using a desktop 3D printer as a gantry, a small number of custom 3D-printed parts, and commonly available laboratory consumables. It is designed to automate sampling and can collect up to 100 samples per run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The system uses a Creality Ender 3 Pro 3D printer for motion control, with add-on components printed in-house on Prusa Research printers. The aim of the project was to develop a low-cost, accessible solution for automating repetitive sampling tasks in skin permeation studies, without reliance on proprietary hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Otto has previously been <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.xphs.2025.103837\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.xphs.2025.103837\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">validated<\/a>. In a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ijpharm.2025.126490\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ijpharm.2025.126490\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hydrogel study<\/a>, Otto was used to collect every sample in a 72-hour skin permeation experiment, operating fully unattended throughout. The <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ohx.2025.e00735\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ohx.2025.e00735\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new <em>HardwareX<\/em> paper<\/a> brings together the design rationale, build instructions and practical considerations needed for others to construct and use the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The paper, which is now available, provides a step-by-step guide to building Otto and is intended to support reproducibility and reuse by other laboratories. The 3D models and design files are <a href=\"https:\/\/data.mendeley.com\/datasets\/cvc9vxjgn9\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/data.mendeley.com\/datasets\/cvc9vxjgn9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">openly available<\/a>, and the models are also hosted on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.printables.com\/model\/1346514-otto-franz-diffusion-cell-autosampler-printable-pa\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.printables.com\/model\/1346514-otto-franz-diffusion-cell-autosampler-printable-pa\">Printables<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alongside the hardware, a companion application called OttoMate has been developed to generate the G-code used to control the system via a graphical user interface. The software is under active development and is available on <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/ngkengwooi\/ottomate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GitHub<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A series of videos demonstrating different aspects of Otto\u2019s operation, including assembly and sampling, is also available via a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLiepgG4ZHWirRBnsqybRGd7GoXulaojsg\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLiepgG4ZHWirRBnsqybRGd7GoXulaojsg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTube playlist<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Otto\" width=\"525\" height=\"295\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/videoseries?list=PLiepgG4ZHWirRBnsqybRGd7GoXulaojsg\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This work was carried out by our team at Newcastle University, with contributions from Liam Archbold and Dr Wing Man Lau. Otto has been open-sourced in the hope that others will find it useful and adapt it for their own applications, and we are open to collaborations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We would also like to acknowledge the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ukri.org\/councils\/epsrc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">EPSRC<\/a> for funding this work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ng KW, Archbold L, Lau WM. Building Otto: An open-source Franz diffusion cell autosampler for automating in vitro skin permeation studies. HardwareX. 2026;25:e00735. doi: 10.1016\/j.ohx.2025.e00735 We have recently published a paper in HardwareX describing the design and construction of Otto, an open-source autosampler robot for Franz diffusion cell experiments. Otto is built using a desktop &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/kengng\/news\/new-paper-shows-how-to-build-otto\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;New paper shows how to build Otto&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3965,"featured_media":1466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,4,10],"tags":[73,22],"class_list":["post-1463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equipment","category-news","category-publications","tag-automation","tag-skin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/kengng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/kengng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/kengng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/kengng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3965"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/kengng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1463"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/kengng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1467,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/kengng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1463\/revisions\/1467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/kengng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/kengng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/kengng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/kengng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}