Dispensing Robot Tip Ejection via Downward Contact Surface
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a demand for robots to perform dispensing tasks that have traditionally been carried out by humans, particularly in industries using commercially available manual type pipettes, where existing solutions lack automation and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A dispensing robot system equipped with a robot arm and controller that can attach and detach pipette tips using a tip ejector, allowing for automated dispensing operations with commercially available manual type pipettes, utilizing a pipette holding piece designed to fit standard pipettes and a tip detachment mechanism involving a first and second contact surface for accurate tip removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a robot is designed to operate commercially available manual type pipettes, then operating costs and usage records are improved, but the complexity of adapting to manual pipette operations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robot hand is designed with multiple degrees of freedom to perform multiple functions: holding the pipette body, operating the plunger, and pressing the tip ejector. This universal design allows a single robotic system to handle all manual pipette operations, achieving cost efficiency while managing complexity through integrated functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The pipette operating tasks are segmented into distinct robotic actions: pipette holding, liquid aspiration/discharge via plunger operation, and tip detachment via tip ejector operation. Each function is controlled independently by the robot hand, allowing precise control of each operation while maintaining compatibility with standard manual pipettes.
2Reliability
If the robot arm operates the tip ejector by pressing from the downward direction, then tip detachment reliability is improved, but the structural complexity of the contact surface increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of having the robot arm press upward on the tip ejector from below, the system inverts the approach by providing a contact surface that the tip ejector presses against from the downward direction. This inversion simplifies the robotic mechanism while maintaining reliable tip detachment through the first contact surface positioned to receive downward pressure.
3Ease of operation
If the robot hand holds the pipette holding piece with multiple degrees of freedom, then ease of pipette operation is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robot hand is designed with multiple degrees of freedom to dynamically adapt its configuration for different pipette operations. The hand can adjust its grip position, angle, and force distribution to optimally hold the pipette and operate both the plunger and tip ejector, providing ease of operation while managing structural complexity through dynamic adjustability.
Data Source
AI summary
A dispensing robot of an assay robot system includes a first contact surface oriented in a downward direction or an obliquely downward direction in a vertical direction and dispenses when the dispensing robot operates a pipette that allows a tip to be attached to a lower end of the pipette and the attached tip to be detached by pressing a tip ejector, the dispensing robot comprising: a robot arm having a hand to hold a pipette holding piece attached thereto; and a controller controls the robot arm such that the robot arm holds the pipette with the tip attached thereto by causing the hand to hold the pipette holding piece and that the robot arm is elevated and the tip ejector is pressed by bringing an upper end portion of the tip ejector of the held pipette into contact with the first contact surface from the downward direction.