The next generation of automounter robots "will offer enhanced capabilities of automated alignment, improved serviceability and robustness, and integrated machine vision capabilities," Thomas Earnest, who leads the development of the robots, said in a statement.
Earnest is a biophysicist with Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division, and he leads the schools Structural Proteomics Development Group. The group developed the first generation of protein crystal automounter robots with the bioinstrumentation group at Berkeley Lab's Engineering Division. Members of these two divisions will co-develop the new system.