[Bioperl-l] Bio::Robotics namespace discussion

[Jonathan Cline]

Chris Fields wrote:
>
> Your modules may or may not need the Bio* namespace (that's up to you,
> actually); there are several non-bioperl modules that also share the
> Bio* namespace, and I believe there are modules that aren't Bio* that
> use BioPerl (Gbrowse comes to mind).  If you're focusing on
> interaction with robotics, Robotics::Bio::X might be a better
> namespace for instance (b/c you could expand later into other possibly
> non-bio robotics interfaces). 

Based on your & other opinions I have received, I am creating:

Robotics.pm   (high level hardware abstraction layer)
Robotics::Tecan
Robotics::Tecan::Genesis


I'll post a release note when it's reached an interesting level of
maturity (estimate a couple weeks from now) so anyone with the hardware
can play with the package.  It's currently working great, and I am
adding functionality on a daily basis.


## Jonathan Cline
## jcline at ieee.org
## Mobile: +1-805-617-0223
########################


>>
>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: bioperl-l-bounces at lists.open-bio.org [mailto:bioperl-l-
>>>> bounces at lists.open-bio.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan Cline
>>>> Sent: Thursday, 30 July 2009 2:07 p.m.
>>>> To: bioperl-l at lists.open-bio.org
>>>> Cc: Jonathan Cline
>>>> Subject: [Bioperl-l] Bio::Robotics namespace discussion
>>>>
>>>> I am writing a module for communication with biology robotics, as
>>>> discussed recently on #bioperl, and I invite your comments.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Namespace:
>>>>
>>>> I have chosen Bio::Robotics and Bio::Robotics::Tecan.  There are many
>>>> s/w modules already called 'robots' (web spider robots, chat bots, www
>>>> automate, etc) so I chose the longer name "robotics" to differentiate
>>>> this module as manipulating real hardware.  Bio::Robotics is the
>>>> abstraction for generic robotics and Bio::Robotics::(vendor) is the
>>>> manufacturer-specific implementation.  Robot control is made more
>>>> complex due to the very configurable nature of the work table
>>>> (placement
>>>> of equipment, type of equipment, type of attached arm, etc).   The
>>>> abstraction has to be careful not to generalize or assume too
>>>> much.  In
>>>> some cases, the Bio::Robotics modules may expand to arbitrary
>>>> equipment
>>>> such as thermocyclers, tray holders, imagers, etc - that could be a
>>>> future roadmap plan.