The flagship in our line of precision micromanipulators, the motorized MP-285 is affordable yet offers advanced features found in manipulators costing thousands more. Custom engineered stepping motors, precision cross-roller bearing slides and proprietary worm gear capstan drives form the basis of the watch-like mechanical system. The controller provides power to the stage motors with a quiet linear power supply to minimize electrical noise radiation in your setup. Pipette holders and headstages are securely mounted to the MP-285 with one of our several unique and rigid mounting systems.
The MP-285 was designed to meet a wide variety of positioning needs for the scientific community, and is suitable for patch clamp experiments, extracellular recording, microinjection, intra-cellular recording and precision robotic positioning applications. An outstanding feature of this system is the unique definable 4th axis for diagonal advancement of the pipette. You select the angle, then activate the 4th axis. As with the other three axes, you may move with adjustable coarse or ultrafine resolution, select the movement speed, and move continuously or in single step increments. To quickly reposition the pipette, simply select the Home function. Axes positions are continuously shown in relative and absolute scales, and are easily readable on the vacuum fluorescent display.
Choice of two Input Device Options
- Rotary Optical Encoder (ROE) – Turning one of three 2-inch knobs produces a movement along one axis proportional to the amount and speed of the turn. Buttons allow the activation of “4th axis”, change of movement resolution, “home” return function, and toggle between continuous/pulse movements.
- Joystick – Our joystick is a modified three-axis game controller. The degree of handle deflection determines the velocity of movement of each axis. In pulse mode, a button commands the manipulator to take a single step in the axis selected by joystick deflection.
FEATURES
- Quietest electronics in the industry optomized for single channel recording
- Highly stable for experiments intolerant of pipette drift
- Submicron resolution and integrated coarse positioning
- 1 inch of motorized travel on all three axes
- virtual 4th axis with user-selected angle for axial drive
- Adjustable speed and resolution allows optimization for your experimental setup
- Programmable robotics for complex motion sequences
- Continuous display (in microns) of axes positions
- Switch between continuous or single step movement
- Absolute and relative origins
- Convenient Home function allows pipettes to be quickly repositioned
- Assignable axes permit any orientation of the manipulator
- Easy-to-read vacuum fluorescent display
- Remote computer control via serial interface
- Compact design easily adaptable to your setup
- Universal mounting system for headstage or pipette holder
- Optional mounting adapters
