Robot-based Sample Tube Handling for Automated Pre- and Post-processing of SARS-CoV-2 PCR Tests

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic worldwide has led to millions of infections with partly severe complications and death. The diagnosis is based on a PCR test of a saliva sample and is carried out in specialised laboratories. While the actual PCR analysis is usually automated, sample preparation and post-processing often involve manual handling steps. The paper presents an approach for robot-based pre- and post-processing of sample tubes. A seven-axis industrial robot is equipped with a multifunctional gripper and enabled for the application. In addition, machine-learning based image processing solutions are be integrated to increase flexibility and robustness. The implementation shows the feasibility of the approach in principle. The achieved cycle time does not fulfil the set requirements completely, but the implementation provides numerous approaches for optimisation.