Hamilton R10

The Hamilton R10 is a multi-stacker plate store. Revolution addresses it over the network, importing and exporting plates by stacker and level and driving the handoff position that a robot picks from.

No published specifications

Hamilton does not currently publish a product page under the name “R10”, so no capacity, dimensions, plate-height range or environmental specification is stated here. The figures below are the addressable ranges the Revolution driver accepts, which is a different thing from a manufacturer specification — your unit’s real capacity depends on its build.

If you are specifying a system around an R10, confirm its ratings with Hamilton or with us before committing to a method — get in touch.

Addressable ranges

These are the bounds the driver enforces on each operation’s parameters.

Stackers	1 – 10
Levels per stacker	1 – 18
Handoff positions	1 – 6

Supported methods

• Import plate — take a plate into a given stacker and level
• Export plate — deliver the plate at a given stacker and level to a handoff position, where a robot can collect it
• Move stacker to door — bring a nominated stacker to the door
• Move handoff — move the handoff mechanism to a nominated position
• Set stacker configuration — declare, for a range of stackers from first to last, the stacker type and the labware type they hold

Stacker configuration is the operation to get right first: the driver’s defaults are a QSR_HS-Stacker_13row_41mmPitch stacker holding Greiner_6_Well labware, and a store whose physical stackers do not match its configured type will not address levels correctly.

Integration

Revolution talks to the R10 over TCP, addressing it by IP address and port. There is no vendor SDK hosted in the Revolution process for this device.

Prerequisites

• The store must be reachable from the Revolution host at the configured IP address and port.
• Set the stacker configuration before importing or exporting plates. Stacker type and labware type determine how levels are addressed.

Device configuration

Property	Purpose
IP Address	Address of the R10 controller
Port	TCP port the controller listens on
Communication simulated	Run the driver without a physical store attached, for method development and dry runs

If you need more of this instrument driven from a schedule, get in touch — the driver is extended on demand.

Operations

These are available from a Run Device Operation step.

Export Plate

Moves a plate out of the hotel by taking it from the given stacker level and setting it on the handoff station for collection. The step stops before moving anything if a plate is already held in the hotel's gripper or already resting on the handoff, and the plate barcode is read while it is still in the stacker.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
Stacker	int	1	The stacker the plate is taken from, counted from 1 in carousel order. The labware type recorded for this stacker is what the gripper is told to expect, so it governs how the plate is picked.
Level	int	1	The level within the chosen stacker that the plate is taken from, counted from 1. The level is checked with the hotel's sensor first, and the barcode is only read when a plate is actually detected there.
Handoff Position	int	1	The handoff position nominated to receive the exported plate, counted from 1. The plate is delivered to the handoff exchange position whatever number is given here, so this value does not change where it ends up.

Import Plate

Moves a plate into the hotel by taking it from the handoff station and storing it at the given stacker level. The step stops before moving anything if the hotel's gripper is not empty, if that level is already occupied, or if no plate is detected on the handoff, and the barcode is read once the plate is in place.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
Stacker	int	1	The stacker the plate is stored in, counted from 1 in carousel order. The plate is lifted off the handoff using the labware type recorded for this stacker, so the destination decides how the incoming plate is gripped.
Level	int	1	The level within the chosen stacker that receives the plate, counted from 1. The level is checked first and the step stops, naming the stacker and level, if a plate is already detected there.

Move Handoff

Moves the handoff station that plates pass through on their way in and out of the hotel to one of its numbered positions. Nothing is checked before it moves: neither a plate resting on the handoff nor one held in the hotel's gripper will stop it.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
Position	int	0	Which numbered position the handoff moves to, counted from 0. The plate import and plate export steps drive the handoff to position 1 themselves, so a position set by this step lasts only until the next import or export runs.

Move Stacker To Door

Rotates the carousel so that the chosen stacker is presented at the hotel door for exchange. The hotel's gripper is moved clear to its safe position first, and the carousel is left at the door when the step finishes.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
Stacker	int	1	Which stacker to bring round to the door, counted from 1 in carousel order. This is the stacker's own number rather than a carousel position, and the carousel rotates by whatever it takes to line the two up.

Raise Error

Makes this device report a failure on demand: the step fails with an error naming the device, and the operator is offered the usual error recovery choices. No command reaches the instrument and nothing moves, and the failure is raised in simulation as well as on a real system, so this is the step to use when rehearsing how a schedule handles a device failure.

Set Stacker Configuration

Changes the stacker hardware and the labware the hotel expects across a block of stackers, in place of the standard configuration applied when the device is initialised. Both settings are written to every stacker from the first to the last of the range inclusive, and they govern how plates in those stackers are gripped from then on.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
First Stacker	int	1	The first stacker in the block to reconfigure, counted from 1 in carousel order. It is included in the range, and a first stacker higher than the last leaves every stacker untouched.
Last Stacker	int	10	The last stacker in the block to reconfigure, counted from 1 in carousel order. It is included in the range, so giving the same number for first and last reconfigures that one stacker.
Stacker Type	string	QSR_HS-Stacker_13row_41mmPitch	The stacker model fitted across the block, given by the name the instrument uses for it. An empty value leaves the model of those stackers as it is; any other value must be a stacker type the instrument reports, or the step stops before changing anything.
Labware Type	string	Greiner_6_Well	The labware those stackers are to hold, chosen from the labware types the instrument reports. This is the geometry the gripper is told to expect for every plate picked from or placed into those stackers, so it applies to plates already stored there as well as new arrivals.