ABB robots support COVID-19 testing in Singapore

Singapore is using an innovative automated lab system, known as RAVE (Rapid Automated Volume Enhancer), to process coronavirus tests, as outlined by ABB in a press release. The system, which has been developed by research institutes in Singapore, deploys the highly accurate IRB 910 SCARA variant robot developed by ABB. Moreover, the Zurich-based technology enterprise has supported the project by providing simulation technology and programming expertise.

To begin with, ABB supplied a total of four robots for the first two RAVE units. Since then, the company was awarded a contract to deliver a further 14 robots, ABB explains: “We are honored to join Singapore’s medical ecosystem to tackle this urgent challenge”, comments Sami Atiya, President ABB Robotics & Discrete Automation, in the press release. The new lab system has increased Singapore’s testing capacity by automating various laboratory processes, Atiya states, before explaining how the company’s robots are “undertaking a range of repetitive and dangerous tasks to improve laboratory conditions for employees, reducing the risk of contamination and fatigue”.

According to the press release, ABB is currently involved in another healthcare project. The YuMi industrial robot developed by ABB is being used in a study conducted by the Polytechnic University of Milan to provide hospitals with support for antibody testing. The two-arm robot is said to be able to automate around three quarters of the test processes and analyze up to 450 samples per hour.