Abstract: A conical burr coffee grinder can include a hopper that receives coffee beans, a grinding arrangement beneath the hopper, and a removable container beneath the grinding arrangement. The grinding arrangement can include an inner conical burr within an outer conical burr. At least one conical burr can rotate with respect to the other to grind the coffee beans into coffee grounds and dispense the coffee grounds into the container. The coffee beans and coffee grounds can follow a substantially vertical path from the hopper through the grinding arrangement and into the container, which can be multipurpose. A rotor gear can be coupled to the inner conical burr such that the rotor gear and inner conical burr rotate together as a combined unit. Additional components can include a rotational motor, a geartrain, a removable hopper lid, a grind adjustment assembly, a chute, an ionizer, a base, and a safety switch.

Abstract: A GUI is used to schedule a set of tasks for one or more robots to test samples using one or more instruments. A set of drivers are used to map instructions for the robots and instruments form a standardized format to a set of instrument/robot-specific formats. Using the standardized formats enables support for new types of robot and/or instrument to be easily added to the system. The robots and instruments generate test results from samples according to the instructions. Information about the testing may be stored in conjunction with user identifiers and other metadata to provide a verifiable audit trail across the instruments and robots.

Abstract: A fluid collection and testing device includes a collection vial having a bottom and an open top along with an expresser sized for insertion into the vial open end. The expresser includes a ribbed base enabling fluid to pass therethrough and a support member holds the expresser within the collection vial with the ribbed base in a spaced apart relationship with the vial bottom. A fluid collector includes an absorbent member capturing a fluid and the absorbent member is sized for insertion into the expresser and is compressible against the ribbed base for releasing captured fluid through the ribbed base and into the vial bottom. A catch mechanism is provided for latching the fluid collector to the expresser after insertion into the expresser for enabling simultaneous removal of the expresser and the fluid collector from the collection vial.