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Thermo Orbitor
The Thermo Scientific Orbitor is a compact benchtop microplate mover built around a bi-directional telescoping arm on an infinitely-rotating base, giving it a 360° workspace from a single position. Revolution drives it both standalone and mounted on a BenchTrak rail, where the added linear axis extends its reach along a bench.
At a glance
Section titled “At a glance”| Rotation | Infinite |
| Z travel | 570 mm |
| Reach | ±410 mm |
| Nominal payload | 250 g |
| Mass | 25 kg |
| Gripper | Most SBS-standard labware, landscape or portrait, handles lids |
| Revolution control | Plate transfers, scheduled through Revolution’s transfer system |
Specifications
Section titled “Specifications”Thermo Fisher publishes the following for the Orbitor RS2.
Axis and joint
Section titled “Axis and joint”| Axis | Distance | Speed | Acceleration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Z (height) | 570 mm | 750 mm/sec | 2250 mm/sec |
| Radius (reach) | ±410 mm | 1200 deg/sec | 3600 mm/sec² |
| Theta (rotation) | Infinite | 225 deg/sec | 675 deg/sec² |
| Gripping distance | 130.4 / 75.4 mm (open/close) |
General
Section titled “General”| Power requirements | 120 W, 85–264 VAC, 47–63 Hz |
| Operating environment | 15–40 °C |
| Humidity | 10–80% rH up to 31 °C, decreasing linearly to 50% rH at 40 °C; max 80% rH non-condensing |
| Safety compliances | CE, CSA, CSAu |
| Motion control | Closed-loop servo, brushless motor |
| Control | Directly from PC; requires Microsoft Windows 10 |
The 250 g nominal payload is the number to check a workflow against. A filled deep-well plate with a lid is heavier than an empty microplate, and payload is a mover specification you do not want to discover empirically.
Thermo Fisher labels the Orbitor RS2 “For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.”
Storage around the mover
Section titled “Storage around the mover”Because the base rotates without limit, storage is arranged around the mover:
| Per unit | Maximum | |
|---|---|---|
| Random access (hotels) | 8 standard plates per hotel | 72 standard plates — 9 hotels around the mover |
| Sequential access (stacks) | 40 standard plates per stack | 360 standard plates — 9 stacks around the mover |
Gripper
Section titled “Gripper”Thermo Fisher states the gripper handles most SBS-standard labware in landscape or portrait, easily handles lids, includes plate detection, and has adjustable gripping force and speed settings.
Safety
Section titled “Safety”This is a mover, so its safety characteristics are part of its specification rather than a footnote. Thermo Fisher states the Orbitor RS2:
- Meets international standards for collaborative robots, and is designed to work in direct cooperation with a person in a defined, purpose-built workspace without guarding or shielding
- Uses an overhead gripper, avoiding the protruding offset fingers used by some other movers
- Applies force control that stops all movement at the slightest unexpected contact
None of that removes the need for a proper risk assessment of your own cell — the layout, the neighbouring instruments and the labware are yours, not Thermo Fisher’s.
How Revolution uses it
Section titled “How Revolution uses it”The Orbitor is a mover, and movers are not driven by device operations. Revolution schedules plate transfers and the mover executes them through the transfer system, in the same way as the PF400 and Stäubli. There is no “move plate” operation to call from a method — you describe where labware needs to be, and the scheduler works out the moves.
Revolution recognises two forms:
- Orbitor — the mover on its own base
- Orbitor on BenchTrak — the mover mounted on Thermo Fisher’s track axis, which the specification sheet notes can be added in the field as a workflow grows
Integration
Section titled “Integration”Prerequisites
Section titled “Prerequisites”- Thermo Fisher’s own control software must be installed, on Windows, and the mover taught its positions before Revolution schedules transfers through it.
- Every instrument the mover serves must be within the stated Z travel and reach — or within the BenchTrak’s travel, where fitted.
- Labware weight must be within the 250 g nominal payload.
- Position teaching is instrument-side work. A mover that has not been taught a position cannot be scheduled to it.
If you need more of this instrument driven from a schedule, get in touch — the driver is extended on demand.