Laboratory Automation

What do you do if you receive 20,000 sample vials of milk each day, which need to be sorted as required by complex regimes and random selection into different test destinations, and the only identifying information on each vial is contained inside an RFID tag? Order a specially designed high speed robotic sorting system from rml of course!

That’s what Independent Testing Laboratory SAITL did to relieve the pressure on the staff and systems following the conversion from barcode identification to RFID identification for their sample vials. SAITL were already well familiar with rml’s solutions, having already installed a number of machines in other areas.

rml solved the challenge though by mounting a high speed flexi-picker robot from ABB on a 5th axis or gantry rail. In this way, we could utilize the high speed operation of the flexi-picker robot with the additional reach provided by a 5 meter long gantry rail. The sorter compares data found in the base of each vial on an RFID tag with a LIMS database which decides where each sample should go. It then, carries each source tray over the destination trays, and transfers vials as required.