Machine Shop

The VRC Instrumentation Core Module supports the design and construction of specialized laboratory instrumentation. Services are provided through two shops: the Mahoney Institute for Neuroscience (MINS) machine shop and the Penn Electronic Design Shop. These shops are well-equipped and staffed by experienced personnel who can provide design consultation, construction of precision mechanical and electronic apparatus, modifications to commercial instruments to meet specialized vision research needs, and instrument repair and maintenance. Our extensive experience working with researchers from the ocular and neural vision fields enables specialized support for the UPenn vision community.

For more information about the Machine Shop, or to make an appointment, please contact Michael Suplick:
     msuplick@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
     (215) 898-8927

Costs for a job can be estimated before work is begun, if desired. Please contact us to arrange a consultation the next time your project requires custom devices or repairs to existing equipment.

 

The Machine Shop is located in the David Rittenhouse Labs Building (DRL), located at 209 S. 33rd Street at the corner of 33rd & Walnut Streets.

 

Recent jobs include:

Visual Monitored LED cage controller (Dr. Joshua Dunaief)
The Dunaief lab studies mouse models of age-related macular degeneration and oxidative stress. The machine and electronic shop jointly built this piece of equipment to expose mice to bright light in a comfortable and safe environment. The LED chamber is a controlled lux intensity apparatus with a temperature safety feature made with the purpose to stimulate multiple mice by exposing them to light. The cage with up to 4 compartments contains a lux sensor and a temperature sensor. The lux intensity can be controlled manually from a knob and read back immediately from the Lux sensor in the front panel. The box controller also has a time interface to be set up in hours and minutes at the beginning of the experiment. After the session begins the temperature and lux will be logged and saved in a file in the SD card also included in the system. The SD card can be removed at the end of the session to be read and analyzed in a computer. The system includes a vision system that records the mice activity live and match the file readings and time logged in the sd card. The increased control in this design represents a substantial advance over previous light box designs.

Shrew Temperature Control Box
The Arcaro Lab studies the development of the visual system in tree shrews. The purpose of this device that was jointly developed by the MINS and the EDS is to transport 4 shrews in a safe and quiet way by controlling the temperature in the container where they are transported, minimizing the vibration and noise of the system. This system consists of a cart where a cooler box will be used to transport the shrews. The cooler box will have a custom electronic design from the PEDS core, implementing a linear bipolar controller driver with a temperature feedback loop to drive the Peltier diodes inside the cooler box. The user was capable of turning ON and OFF the system and capable to set the desired temperature.

  • Subretinal injectors
  • Multiple tetrode manipulator
  • Mouse treadmill for awake physiology
  • Repair to sliding microtome
  • Optical bench/confocal microscopes
  • Heated microscope stages