Application of a Dual-Arm Robot in Complex Sample Preparation and Measurement Processes

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Robotics in Laboratory Automation
• Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)

Background:

• Industrial robotics and bioscreening automation are advanced, but analytical measurement automation lags due to complex, heterogeneous processes.
• Challenges include intricate sample preparation, transport, diverse sensor systems, data analysis, and nonstandard sample vessel formats.
• Existing bioscreening automation solutions are not directly applicable to analytical measurement needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a flexible and universal automated system for sample preparation, analysis, and data evaluation in analytical measurements.
• To demonstrate the system's application in determining cholesterol in biliary endoprosthesis using GC-MS.
• To showcase a robotic concept enabling human-like operation and integration with manual laboratory equipment.

Main Methods:

• Development of a flexible automation system incorporating sample preparation, analytical measurement, and data evaluation capabilities.
• Application of a dual-arm robot for transport and active manipulation tasks, mimicking human laboratory operations.
• Utilized gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for the quantitative determination of cholesterol in biliary endoprosthesis samples.

Main Results:

• The presented flexible automation system successfully integrates sample preparation, analysis, and data evaluation.
• The dual-arm robot effectively performed transport and manipulation, enabling human-like laboratory operations.
• The system demonstrated applicability for complex analytical tasks, exemplified by cholesterol determination via GC-MS.

Conclusions:

• A flexible automation system has been developed to overcome limitations in analytical measurement automation.
• The general robotic concept allows for the use of standard manual laboratory devices, enhancing versatility.
• This approach is suitable for analytical areas requiring a high degree of standardization and complex workflow integration.