Cryogenic Plant Sample Grinder System, Labman Automation
in conjunction with Max Planck Institute, Golm/Potsdam Berlin

(Video here)

(Video in DIVX format - see www.divx.com for driver)

Labman's Cryogenic Plant Grinding and Aliquoting Weighing System

Automatically grind and aliquot ground plant material to any number of targets
Feed the sample from a single source to multiple target tubes
96 (8x12) input samples and 580 output sample tubes (1.4ml Micronics and Matrix tubes)
-70 deg C dry air robotic cavity to ensure low frost build up over days of use
Multiple format data import and export

Labman's latest custom automation project, a plant sample grinding (pulverising) and feeding system working at cryogenic temperatures, takes plant samples frozen in liquid nitrogen at the point of collection/harvesting and grinds them at cryogenic temperatures in disposable plastic vials (breaking open the cells in the sample). It then aliquots (powder feeds) tiny quantities into Micronic tubes for later analysis (enzyme, nucleic acid, yeast and protein extraction). The system produces a finer powder than other grinding products on the market.

In this particular application, Labman were required to achieve 20mg +/- 4mg per Micronic tube using Tomato, Potato and Arabidopsis samples.

Typical feed data is shown below.