Robotic Biobank

在拟议的项目中，将开发一种新型机器人，在零下80摄氏度的冷冻室中操作。它将为生物库提供机器人高通量解决方案，即为各种研究项目存储和检索生物样本。从基因研究到药物和治疗的开发和评价，生物库对健康科学中的广泛研究活动具有战略重要性。生物样品管在非常低的温度下储存，同时提供对它们的高频访问，这给自动化技术带来了两难境地。这些样品对温度波动很敏感，因此任何自动处理解决方案最好完全位于冷冻室内。然而，极端的温度使这样的解决方案具有挑战性，因为许多可用的技术在如此低的温度下失败了。在提出的项目中，设计了一种新型机器人，其所有敏感部件包括执行器和传感器都固定在冰箱外。机械动力是使用单圈电缆传输的。固定致动器的协调运动确定了机器人末端执行器的位置。这也大大减少了机器人的移动质量，有利于实现高加速和高速度。预计该机器人每小时可提供600次进入单个样品管的通道。

In the proposed project a novel robot will be developed to operate inside a freezer at -80C. It will provide a robotic high throughput solution to biobanking, i.e. storage and retrieval of biological samples for a variety of research projects. Biobanking is of strategic importance to a wide range of research activities in health science from genetic research to the development and evaluation of drugs and treatments. Storage of the biological sample tubes at a very low temperature and providing high frequency access to them at the same time introduces a dilemma to automation technology. These samples are sensitive to temperature fluctuations and therefore it is preferred for any automatic handling solution to be located completely inside the freezer. However, the extreme temperature makes such a solution challenging since many of the available technologies fail in such low temperature. In the proposed project, a novel robot is designed in such a way that all the sensitive parts including the actuators and sensors are stationary located outside the freezer. The mechanical power is transported using a single loop of cable. A coordinated movement of the stationary actuators determine the position of the robot end-effector. This has also significantly reduced the moving mass of the robot facilitating the high accelerations and velocities. It is expected that the robot provide 600 accesses to individual sample tubes per hour.