Our standard sandwich covers can be handled  by robotic grippers, but have a number of drawbacks:

• relatively heavy (150-170 g)
• have to be clamped in during shaking (otherwise they start "rattling", above a certain shaker frequency, because the silicone seals are flat)
• smooth surface of the stainless steel: can slide out of the gripper at an insufficient gripper force (note: many users sofar solve this by putting autoclave tape on the sides)

The "robot-friendly covers" that we have developped in the past year (patent pending, priority date May 2023) address these issues with the following characteristics:

• 50% lighter (approx 80 g)
• seal part rests on the the walls of the MTP under an angle of approx 50 degrees, and are therefore well positioned/fixed (no rattling during shaking without clamping)
• rough structure at the sides (made from rubber), so a reduced risk of "sliding" out of a gripper

The robot-friendly covers consist of the following parts:

• a soft rubber (50 shore A) part produced by either 3D printing or injection molding
• a thin stainless steel ridge, under an angle of 5 degrees, so that mispositioning by the robot of 1 mm (in all 4 directions) is allowed; gravity will automatically cause the cover to "fall" in the proper position
• a carbon-epoxy plate for the necessary rigidity and flatness
• replacable air filters to prevent air-borne contaminants to enter the headspaces

At present we only have prototypes available for 24-square deepwell plates (see photos), but they will be available in large quantities before the end of 2023. Also, we are working on similar covers for 96-well MTPs and our 6-well MTPs CR1406

These sandwich covers are compatible (in terms of weight and dimensions) with the requirement for the Thermo Fisher Scientific Cytomat automated incubators (Laboratory Automation Incubators | Thermo Fisher Scientific): 

Cytomat™ 2 Selector Automated Shaking Incubator (thermofisher.com)