A Computer-Vision-Guided Robot Arm for Automatically Placing Grids in Pioloform Film Preparation
: Peurla Markus, Hänninen Pekka, Eskelinen Eeva-Liisa
Publisher: M D P I AG
: 2019
: Methods and Protocols
: 9
: 2
: 1
: 2409-9279
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/mps2010009(external)
: https://doi.org/10.3390/mps2010009(external)
: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/40226644(external)
Preparing pioloform/formvar support films on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) grids is a routine laboratory procedure in practically all electron microscopy units. In current practice, these grids are manually placed on the support film one by one using special tweezers, a process requiring a steady hand. The work is often ergonomically awkward to continue for a longer period of time. In this article, we describe a low-cost, computer vision-guided robot arm that automatically places the grids on the film. The success rate of the prototype robot is 90%, which is comparable to an experienced laboratory technician.