Every project Labman undertakes requires factory acceptance testing also known as a FAT. The FAT follows a prescribed set of tests which are assessed against criteria which have been agreed with the customer. The criteria is derived from the Design Study document which is produced before the project begins and defines the specifications and design of the robot.
Over the last six months Labman have been building a metabolite extraction system for a large research institution based in the USA. The novel system is being used for the preparation of plant tissues and subsequent polar and non-polar metabolite extraction assays. The system produces samples which can then be analysed on LC-MS or GC-MS instruments.
The process is complex and very laborious to undertake manually. The robot contains a centrifuge, ultra-sonic bath, incubator, high speed mixer, vortexer, liquid dispense station, powder feeding station, solvent drier and liquid transfer station. All of these modules are driven using a flexible protocol editor allowing the system to adapt easily to changing business requirements and research direction.
The FAT on the robot is going to be carried out at Labman during the first half of March and the system is expected to be installed in the USA in April.