Thermo Fisher Scientific and FANUC Robotics Jointly Develop Sophisticated Laboratory Robot

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in serving science, today announced it has jointly developed its new Thermo Scientific F5 articulated robot with FANUC Robotics America, Inc., the world's leading supplier of industrial robots. The F5 has been co-designed and purpose-built for drug discovery applications utilizing FANUC Robotics’ core expertise in industrial robotics and Thermo Fisher’s extensive knowledge of laboratory automation. Consequently, the new F5 robot combines the superior performance of industrial robotics with the application-driven benefits of a traditional Thermo Scientific robot.

Offered exclusively by Thermo Fisher Scientific, the F5 brings a state-of-the-art, 6-axis articulated robot to laboratory automation. The F5 features a linear track to service more instrumentation over larger working areas, integrated servo grippers with grip force control for the precise gripping of all plate types and myriad plate storage and peripheral options. A compact controller, together with integrated lab-oriented software, provides reliable performance and increased speed of movement of any plate type and consumable. The ability to set up rapidly with little training further improves operational efficiency.

“Our collaboration with FANUC Robotics enabled us to improve the way industrial robots are deployed in a laboratory environment and provides many benefits for our customers,” commented Monette Greenway, president of integrative technologies at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “We're able to provide an exceptional articulated robot that is designed for laboratory automation from a single source, resulting in faster integration and superior long-term performance.”

The Thermo Scientific F5 articulated robot is available to Thermo Fisher Scientific customers starting April 30th 2008. To find out more about the new Thermo Scientific F5 please visit the article webpage.