Flexible automation of time-consuming pipetting

Preinstalled menu-driven EPblue software defines a new standard in ease of use in the world of automated pipetting, enabling all users to become automation experts in less than a day.

The EPmotion is well suited to increasing throughput for the evaluation of large numbers of samples of potential interest.

At the Centre for Materials Discovery (CMD), a newly opened state-of-the-art facility within the University of Liverpool's department of chemistry, automated techniques are being applied to research on biomaterials, polymers, household products and nanotechnology.

An EPmotion 5075 LH PC version was chosen to accelerate and standardise the pipetting steps necessary before measuring the surface tension properties of aqueous surfactants and polymer materials.

These analyses are crucial in the development and production of compounds as diverse as pharmaceuticals, inkjet printing inks and shampoos.

According to Neil Campbell, senior experimental officer at the CMD, "We selected Eppendorf's epMotion for its very low error rate and high reproducibility, plus the availability of the PC version with improved data transfer.

"We came to the conclusion that we could automate complex pipetting steps more quickly and simply with the EPmotion than with any other liquid handling platform.

"EPmotion has the flexibility and functionality of much larger systems but in a small, affordable box.

"The superb pipetting precision drastically simplified uniform loading of surface tension screening-plates, which had been very difficult to achieve manually.

"Our automated protocol is hundreds of times faster than previous manual methods and there are cost savings from a significant reduction in sample volumes.

"EPblue's innovative menus lead our new users intuitively through the software, making the system easy to learn and an ideal teaching tool".

Each of the new EPmotion models comes with an integrated industrial PC with EPblue software preinstalled.

All systems are fully tested before shipping to ensure continuous reliable functionality and users can be up and running quickly without any need for on-site installation or configuration.