Automated laboratory tests with robots

Robots have long-since become established in industry, and automation is also gaining a foothold in laboratory environments. In research and development (pharmaceutical, chemistry, life science, bio- and nuclear medicine), blood analysis and individual cosmetics production, convincing results have been achieved over many years with robot solutions that are so flexible and versatile that they are also suitable for clinical infection tests. Besides easing the burden on laboratory staff, robots offer excellent and reliable process stability and quality.

There are basically two forms of robot-supported automation of lab processes:

a)   Partial automation, in which the robot performs the repetitive actions of the laboratory staff, thus facilitating routines. The robot assumes handling tasks, but process control remains with lab personnel or automatic analysis systems.

b)   Full automation of the testing procedure, including sample preparation, pipetting, test implementation and operation of all analytical equipment by the robot. The robot assumes process control and handling tasks. The aim is to construct universally usable standard work cells, with a two-arm robot as a central element that can be adapted and flexibly reprogrammed to any lab equipment. A solution of this kind can independently carry out lab processes 24 hours per day with the highest precision and repeatability.