Patent ID: 9134202
Filing Date: 2015-09-15
Classification: B25J,G01F,G01N,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A robotic end effector for collecting frozen aliquots from an array of frozen samples, the frozen samples being contained in a plurality of containers, each frozen sample having a surface spaced from a bottom of the container, the robotic end effector comprising: a coring bit for taking frozen sample cores from the frozen samples; a frozen sample core extraction system adapted to move the coring bit relative to the frozen samples in a manner that extracts frozen sample cores from the frozen samples; a fill level detection system adapted to detect the positions of the surfaces of the frozen samples; and a processor adapted to receive signals from the fill level detection system and use the signals and information concerning operation of the frozen sample core extraction system to determine at least one of the following: (a) the amount of material contained in a particular frozen sample; and (b) the number of frozen sample cores needed from a particular frozen sample to obtain a predetermined amount of material from that frozen sample.