>> Update My Profile | Subscribe to Access Agilent | Article Directory

Accelerating drug discovery: new robot for robust, flexible, and fast automation systems

By Marc Beban
Director, Integrated Systems and Software Marketing, Agilent Automation Solutions

Today’s drug discovery companies are challenged with getting quality leads into their development pipeline – leads that are active, selective, available, and safe. At the center of the drug development cycle is high-throughput screening (HTS), where researchers test targets against a panel of effectors of chemical or biological origin. HTS allows scientists to rapidly identify lead candidates from libraries that can contain hundreds of thousands to millions of potential candidates. Because automation is so important in HTS, Agilent has designed a robot specifically for life sciences labs – a faster robot that is more accurate, precise, reliable, and safe.

Figure 1. The Agilent Direct Drive Robot is faster and more reliable, and you can teach it with the touch of a button.

Increased need for automation in HTS

At the core of the HTS workflow are automated systems that manage the preparation of microtiter plates and execution of the assay screens. Since the advent of highly automated screening, companies have moved from one or two campaigns a year to many times that number. To support the increased number of screens, automation systems must provide these key benefits:

• Optimized throughput – a balance of speed, precision, and accurate timing
• Robustness and reliability – commonly referred to as “walk-away time”
• Flexibility to adjust to the changing needs of screening assays

The centerpiece of any automation system – the technology for delivering these benefits to HTS – is the robot.

Robot designed specifically for improved performance in the lab

Most robotic arms found in the lab use belt- and gear-driven technology, originally derived from industrial settings where robotic arms were intended to operate in unsafe environments with significant payloads. This is overkill in HTS, where payloads are measured in hundreds of grams, not hundreds of pounds. Belt- and gear-driven robotic arms have many moving parts that wear out, experience high inertia, are susceptible to backlash, and have limited positional repeatability. All of these factors contribute to higher maintenance and detract from the ability of an automated system to provide the key benefits of throughput, robustness, and flexibility.

To address the needs of screening labs, Agilent Automation Solutions has developed a new robot, designed specifically to work in HTS environments. The Agilent Direct Drive Robot (DDR) uses the latest in direct drive technology to deliver improved performance and reliability. Direct drive arms use electric motors inside their joints rather than relying on belts and gears to deliver power (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Direct drive systems place the motors inside the joints, for better precision, speed, and reliability.

Figure 3. Advanced software allows you to edit and refine the movements of the robotic arm, to enable fast integration of new instruments into the automated system. (Click here to see this image larger.)

Direct drive technology delivers a number of benefits over belt and gear systems. First, it has fewer moving parts and so provides increased efficiency and reliability. Fewer moving parts means less wear and tear, so direct drive devices last longer and break down less often. That means the total cost of ownership for systems built with direct drive robots is lower. Plus direct drive arms produce less noise and vibration.

Second, direct drive technology allows for faster, more repeatable, and more precise positioning. The robust DDR uses high-resolution optical encoders (500,000 counts/rotation on each joint, and 1,000,000 counts/meter on the Z axis) to further enhance repeatability. Systems built with direct drive robots have less downtime associated with reteaching.

Third, direct drive technology makes the DDR a safer robot, with as much as 2500-fold lower inertia than a comparable gear-driven device. Direct drive technology is ideal for use in laboratory settings where scientists and technicians interact with HTS systems on a daily basis. It makes teaching, configuring, and changing screening platforms much safer.

Minimize time and personnel to set up assays

In addition to the benefits derived from the technology itself, other features make the DDR ideally suited for HTS systems. The most significant is the “one person, one touch” feature for teaching positions on the system. The robot can go into a weightless mode, be manually positioned at a teach point, and then taught with the press of a button on the end effector by a single operator. Combined with a graphical robot software interface (Figure 3), this makes it easy to get systems up and running and to reconfigure when your screen changes. Other features of the robot include smoothly blended movements, best-in-class path planning, and infinite rotation at all joints to provide maximum throughput.

With reliable technology and a well-conceived design, the DDR is a robot that helps discovery companies deliver quality leads to the drug pipeline faster. To find out more about the DDR and to see an exciting video, please visit our DDR product page.

>> Update My Profile | Subscribe to Access Agilent | Article Directory