Robot Uses Vision to Maintain Precision

The Thermo Scientific Spinnaker Smart Laboratory Robot with built-in vision, coupled with proprietary Momentum 4 software, is designed to eliminate the need for users to manually correct for drift that occurs over time by automatically compensating for positional variations.

This is particularly important for systems in environmental enclosures, where gaining access to the system can be disruptive. The robot’s vision capability and software guide users through a simple step-wise procedure for configuring automation and teaching the system about its environment. The robot-vision camera doubles as a barcode reader, enabling automatic confirmation of sample identification, simplifying the workflow and contributing to robust sample tracking and system fidelity. The arm’s flexible reach, infinite rotation and full gravity-neutral joints facilitate positioning when teaching or integrating instruments. The solution supports a range of third-party instruments and peripherals, from small dedicated benchtop workflows to large, high-throughput screening applications.