High-content screening and automated microscopy hit a wall when a human has to keep feeding plates. A single 384-well assay can run to dozens of plates, each with multiple time points, staining steps and imaging positions. Robotics turns that bottleneck into walk-away time. The Thermo Scientific Orbiter RS2 microplate mover is one of the workhorses that connects plate hotels, incubators, liquid handlers and imagers into an unbroken automated chain. This post explains how it loads the CellInsight CX7 platform and other instruments, and why the software stack — Momentum for scheduling and Amira for analysis — matters as much as the robot arm.
Key takeaway: The Thermo Scientific Orbiter RS2 is a compact bench-top microplate mover with a bi-directional telescoping arm, barcode scanner and collaborative-robot safety. It can load the CellInsight CX7 High Content Analysis Platform and other Thermo instruments, while Momentum software schedules the workflow and Amira software handles downstream 3D/4D image analysis.
1. Why robotics matters in imaging
Manual plate loading limits throughput in four ways:
- Throughput ceiling: a researcher can only ferry plates so fast, and imaging schedules are often compressed into the working day.
- Reproducibility: timing, orientation and environmental exposure vary between manually handled plates.
- Walk-away time: overnight or weekend runs are risky if someone must be present to load the next batch.
- Data traceability: barcode tracking is harder when plates move by hand.
A microplate mover solves all four by storing plates in random-access hotels or sequential stacks, moving them to the imager under barcode control, and returning them to incubators or storage without human intervention.
2. Orbiter RS2 hardware at a glance
| Feature | What it means for imaging |
|---|---|
| Bi-directional telescoping arm | Reaches instruments from multiple angles in a small footprint |
| 360° workspace | Can service several devices around the robot (imager, incubator, hotel, liquid handler) |
| Integrated barcode reader | Confirms plate identity before imaging; supports sample tracking and LIMS integration |
| Plate detection in gripper | Reduces dropped-plate errors and lost samples |
| Collaborative-robot safety | Meets international safety standards; can sit on an open bench without full guarding |
| Variable force settings | Handles different plate types and sample weights without re-tooling |
| Hotels and stacks | Random-access hotels for priority plates; sequential stacks for bulk batches |
3. Loading the CellInsight CX7 platform
The CellInsight CX7 High Content Analysis Platform is a widefield/confocal HCS system designed for fixed and live-cell assays. In a robotic workflow, the Orbiter RS2 sits adjacent to the CX7 and acts as its plate butler:
- Plates are picked from a hotel or stack and barcode-scanned to confirm ID.
- The Orbiter places the plate on the CX7 stage in the correct orientation.
- While the CX7 images, the robot can prepare the next plate or move completed plates to an incubator or output stack.
- For live-cell assays, the robot shuttles plates between the imager and an automated incubator at scheduled intervals, enabling long time-lapse experiments.
This arrangement is especially useful for screening campaigns where the same acquisition protocol is run across tens or hundreds of plates. The robot removes the pauses between plates, so the imager spends more time capturing and less time waiting.
4. Other platforms the Orbiter can feed
Although the CX7 is a common pairing, the Orbiter RS2 is not tied to one instrument. Thermo Fisher offers versions and configurations for:
- QuantStudio real-time PCR systems — automating qPCR plate loading and queue management.
- Other CellInsight and high-content imagers — the same robot architecture can service different HCS models in a platform-agnostic layout.
- Liquid handlers and plate readers — the 360° workspace lets the Orbiter hand plates to peripheral devices as part of a larger assay chain.
- Third-party integrations — the robot has been integrated with devices such as the Curiox Laminar Wash HT2000 for automated cell-suspension sample prep upstream of imaging or PCR.
5. Momentum software: the scheduler behind the robot
Hardware without coordination is just a fast pair of hands. Thermo Scientific Momentum Workflow Scheduling Software is the layer that designs, executes and optimises the whole automated workflow. For an imaging lab, its most relevant features are:
- Drag-and-drop process design: assay steps are laid out visually rather than coded.
- Event-driven scheduling: the scheduler decides which plate goes where next based on instrument availability and assay rules, not a fixed clock.
- 500+ instrument drivers: Thermo and third-party devices are supported out of the box.
- Simulation mode: workflows can be tested virtually before touching real plates.
- RESTful API and LIMS/ELN connectivity: worklists flow in and status data flow out, keeping sample tracking intact.
- Error handling and hot swapping: the scheduler can reroute work if an instrument goes offline or a plate fails a QC check.
In practice, Momentum software lets a single operator queue a week's worth of plates into the scheduler and let the Orbiter, CX7 and incubators negotiate the details.
6. Amira software: from robotic images to 3D insight
Once the robot and imager have produced thousands of images, the next bottleneck is analysis. Thermo Scientific Amira Software is a 3D/4D+ visualisation and analysis package for life-science images. While it is often associated with electron microscopy and volume imaging, it also handles optical microscopy datasets, including z-stacks and time series from high-content screens.
Amira fits into a robotic imaging workflow in three ways:
- Volume rendering and segmentation: turns z-stacks from the CX7 into 3D models of cells, organoids or tissues.
- AI-driven analysis: machine-learning modules speed up feature extraction from large-screen datasets.
- Multi-modal data: can combine optical microscopy, electron microscopy, CT and MRI in one analysis environment, which is valuable for labs running hybrid imaging pipelines.
For a high-content screening lab, Amira is not usually the first-stop quantification tool — that is more likely Harmony/Insight or a third-party HCS analysis package — but it is where complex 3D phenotypes are explored and validated before a simplified assay is locked down.
7. What a typical automated imaging day looks like
- Morning: operator loads hotels/stacks with barcoded plates and starts the Momentum worklist.
- Day: Orbiter moves plates through any prep stations (wash, stain, incubate) and into the CX7 for imaging; Momentum balances the queue so the imager is rarely idle.
- Evening: completed images are transferred to storage; Amira or the HCS analysis software begins segmentation and feature extraction.
- Overnight: live-cell plates return to the incubator on schedule, ready for the next imaging window.
8. When to consider this setup in a UK lab
- You run more than ~20 plates per week on the same protocol.
- Your assay is limited by imager availability rather than biology.
- You need barcode-tracked, auditable sample handling.
- You want to run live-cell time courses outside normal working hours.
- You already use Momentum or Thermo automation elsewhere and want to add imaging.
9. Video resources
Video: Official Thermo Fisher Scientific overview of the Orbitor RS2 microplate mover.
Video: Discussion of AI and plate-based high-content screening, relevant to automated imaging workflows.
Video: High-content live-cell assays for immunology — the kind of assay that benefits from robotic plate handling.