A lab automation robot comprising: a stationary base ; a swiveling tower rotatably mounted to the stationary base about a first vertical axis; an arm vertically translatably mounted to the tower an articulating forearm coupled to the arm at an elbow joint and pivotable relative thereto about a second vertical axis; and a wrist assembly including multi-axis gripper operatively coupled to the forearm at a wrist joint and rotatable relative thereto about a third vertical axis wherein the gripper is further rotatable relative to at least the forearm about a first horizontal axis and about a second horizontal axis, the multi-axis gripper. comprising: a gripper body having a front platform portion and a rear mounting portion for facilitating movable coupling of the gripper to an end effector is of the lab automation robot; a pair of fingers extending longitudinally from the front platform portion of the body and configured to be laterally movable toward and away from each other for selectively gripping and releasing an object positioned therebetween; and an aperture extending through the rear mounting portion, wherein the rear mounting portion includes a pair of sidewalls arranged on opposing sides of the aperture and a pair of axially-aligned pivot bores extending through the sidewalls and configured to at least partially define the second horizontal axis of rotation of the gripper. a stationary base ; a swiveling tower rotatably mounted to the stationary base about a first vertical axis; an arm vertically translatably mounted to the tower an articulating forearm coupled to the arm at an elbow joint and pivotable relative thereto about a second vertical axis; and a wrist assembly including multi-axis gripper operatively coupled to the forearm at a wrist joint and rotatable relative thereto about a third vertical axis wherein the gripper is further rotatable relative to at least the forearm about a first horizontal axis and about a second horizontal axis, the multi-axis gripper. comprising: a gripper body having a front platform portion and a rear mounting portion for facilitating movable coupling of the gripper to an end effector is of the lab automation robot; a pair of fingers extending longitudinally from the front platform portion of the body and configured to be laterally movable toward and away from each other for selectively gripping and releasing an object positioned therebetween; and an aperture extending through the rear mounting portion, wherein the rear mounting portion includes a pair of sidewalls arranged on opposing sides of the aperture and a pair of axially-aligned pivot bores extending through the sidewalls and configured to at least partially define the second horizontal axis of rotation of the gripper. a gripper body having a front platform portion and a rear mounting portion for facilitating movable coupling of the gripper to an end effector is of the lab automation robot; a pair of fingers extending longitudinally from the front platform portion of the body and configured to be laterally movable toward and away from each other for selectively gripping and releasing an object positioned therebetween; and an aperture extending through the rear mounting portion, wherein the rear mounting portion includes a pair of sidewalls arranged on opposing sides of the aperture and a pair of axially-aligned pivot bores extending through the sidewalls and configured to at least partially define the second horizontal axis of rotation of the gripper. <EOS>