Abstract
CRS Robotics of Canada Forms Partnership with ISRA Systemtechnik of Germany
CRS Robotics Corporation, a recognized industry leader in human scale robots, has acquired ISRA Systemtechnik GmbH of Germany, a producer of laboratory automation and machine vision systems. CRS has sold well over a thousand robots in 25 countries, while ISRA has installed 40 laboratory automation systems and over 250 machine vision systems. The acquisition will bring together the complementary technologies of the two companies to create a single source for machine vision systems, human scale robots and laboratory automation systems for real-rime process control and automation.
Both CRS and ISRA are involved in a wide range of automation applications in many fields of industry. Products of special interest to laboratorians include the CRS Microplate Handling Robot System and the ISRA High Throughput Drug Screening System. The CRS Microplate Handling Robot System can sort and process tens of thousands of samples at a time, and incorporates user-friendly software which allows customers with limited technical expertise to easily schedule the movement of samples in order to make the most efficient use of the laboratory robot and other instruments. The ISRA High Throughput Drug Screening System, can test twenty thousand compounds in 24 hours and typically services a number of peripheral modules including pipettors, dispensers, incubators and washers integrated with an articulated robot system. The ISRA High Throughput Drug Screening System received the 1995 MBG Award (Mittelstandige Beteiligungs-gesellschaft, Hessen, Germany).
A Word on R&D Funding
(Submitted by Don Nagy, CCRI, Lake Arrowhead, CA) According to a recent survey, two out of three Americans think that the U.S. government should spend more on funding for research and development in advanced electronics and computer technologies.
A nationwide poll of 1,020 adults was conducted for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers by Bruskin/Goldring Research, Edison, New Jersey. As reported in the November/December 1995 issue of Motion Control, respondents indicated that advances in these fields could have the greatest impact on health and medical care and education. Nearly 60% of respondents predicted that greater use of advanced technology in these areas could improve the quality of their lives in the next ten years.
Nearly 40% stated that technological advances in health and medical care would have more of an impact than advances in education, personal and business communications, entertainment and leisure, pollution control and transportation.
The survey concludes that, despite Congress's declining support for technology research, Americans are now more confidant about their country's ability to lead the world in technology than they were two years earlier. Although most respondents still ranked the United States behind Japan in technology leadership, the number of those who believe the U.S. is gaining ground increased by four percent in 1995.