Velocity11 has announced the global launch of the gripper accessory for its Bravo liquid handling platform at the forthcoming Elrig high throughput techniques meeting on 19 July 2006.
Available as a standard component, or as an add-on to an existing Bravo, the gripper facilitates rapid and precise movement of microplates and tip boxes to all deck positions.
The gripper enables a broader range of fully automated applications to be achieved by the compact and powerful Bravo platform.
With plate moves in less than three seconds with a precision of 0.1mm, the Bravo gripper is described as the ideal solution for high throughput liquid handling applications.
For environments such as pharmaceutical research where samples are often precious the gripper position control ensures that a plate is never dropped even should the Bravo lose power.
Microplate pick and place reliability is assured with an integrated plate sensor that verifies the presence of all plate types.
Advantageously gripping and deployment axis are independent from the liquid handling, allowing full tips to remain attached during plate movements.
This feature also ensures that liquid is never dispensed unintentionally while moving plates.
The Bravo is Velocity11's latest high-speed, precision liquid handling platform - based upon a space-saving nine plate-position footprint that can fit inside a standard laminar flow hood.
With seven different easy-to-change head types and numerous plate pad options, it can be fully customised to meet the needs of a wide range of assays.
The compact Bravo platform utilises the proven high-accuracy pipette heads of the company's popular VPrep pipettor for dispensing from 100nl to 200ul in 96, 384 and 1536 well formats or to a single column or row of any of these plate types.
Also on display at the Elrig meeting will be the company's popular BenchCel microplate handling system - a compact, versatile plate handler said to deliver market leading speed and precision, and the PlateLoc - a versatile, high-speed thermal sealer machine that automatically accommodates deepwell, assay, PCR, and compound storage plates.
Velocity11's customers comprise most of the major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as well as leading genome centres and academic institutions.
