A Review of Linear Robotic Systems for High Throughput Screening – New Developments Result in More Flexibility and Lower Cost

Abstract

W ithin the last 18 months there has been a profound change in the style of robotics available to the HTS community. Linear robotic system have entered the market and enable faster throughput and an industrial style approach to drug discovery screening (Figure 1; ). Such systems are quite different from the “robo-centric” style of automation, which has existed in this field for the last ten to fifteen years . Vendors supplying these styles of robotics now include Zymark (Hopkinton, MA), CCS Packard (Meriden, CT), Jenoptik (Jena, Germany???), and Titertek (Huntsville, AL). These systems have several advantages over “robo-centric” trackbased robotics. Some advantages include: