Telerobotic remote handling of protein crystals

A combined University / Industry team has developed a prototype system for handling protein crystals aboard the space station. This system uses a miniature direct drive robot, CCD television cameras, and a client-server computing system using internet protocols to support the capture of protein crystals from aqueous growth solutions. The system was demonstrated between Huntsville AL. and Seattle WA. An operator in Huntsville controlled the mini robot by invoking pre-defined relative and absolute macro files. The operators observed results using video images sent through the internet link using Cu-SeeMe video con-ferencing software. In 3 of 4 trials, the operators successfully captured 0.5mm simulated protein crystals into a glass capillary. The system is a promising start for the development of a space-station based remote protein crystal analysis facility.