ABB’s collaborative robot, YuMi supported hospitals during Coronavirus testing using an application designed at Politecnico di Milano, in partnership with ABB, and the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, which developed the serological test. At its peak YuMi automates up to 77 per cent of the testing actions and helps analyse up to 450 samples/hour.
The existing test protocol involves a laboratory technician repeating the same movement thousands of times, which can lead to health issues.
A partial process automation has become necessary. Andrea Zanchettin, PhD with experience in collaborative robotics and associate professor at the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering of Politecnico di Milano, dealt with the project.
Zanchettin designed the application and programmed the YuMi robot to automate well plate “pipetting” duringserological tests and reduced many of the repetitive actions that the operator would otherwise have to perform.
YuMi is a collaborative robot produced by ABB, a company that works with Politecnico di Milano through the Joint Research Centre strategic partnership (www.polimi.it/ricerca-scientifica/la-ricerca-al-politecnico/joint-research-centres-jrc/).The multifunctional machine can be used to ensure repetitiveness in industry and other sectors, such as hospitals and analysis laboratories.
This article was first published by Politecnico di Milano.
Receive the Funding Newswire each Tuesday, our Policy Bulletin each Thursday, and news about bridging Europe’s east-west innovation gap twice a month in The Widening. 
A unique international forum for public research organisations and companies to connect their external engagement with strategic interests around their R&D system.
