US
EU
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DEThe lab automation robot
that works at the bench
Most labs have automated their analyzers. The work between them - retrieving samples, loading instruments, decapping tubes, archiving results - still falls to your technicians. uLab Mobile does that work instead, at bench level, with the precision the job requires.
uLab Mobile in numbers
30K+
analyses per day supported at Zentrum fur Labormedizin Bern
24/7
operation: hybrid with staff during the day, fully autonomous at night
30+
labs deployed
The bench work that still needs automating
Repetitive handling tasks are wearing your team down
Decapping tubes, loading centrifuges, tending analyzers, retrieving archived samples. These tasks repeat dozens of times per shift. They don't need a trained technician, but they take one away from work that does.
Instruments sit idle between loads
Analyzers are only as productive as the staff loading them. When your team is occupied elsewhere, instruments wait. In a high-volume lab, that gap between capacity and throughput adds up fast.
Night shifts can't sustain the same throughput
Staffing levels drop at night. The samples don't. Maintaining consistent sample processing around the clock requires automation that works independently, not a smaller team trying to cover the same ground.
Skilled staff spending time on low-value tasks
Laboratory technicians are trained for analysis and diagnostics. Every hour spent on loading, decapping, or moving samples around is an hour not spent on the work they were hired for. And the workforce shortage means those hours matter more than ever.
What uLab Mobile takes over at the bench
Loads and unloads your analyzers
uLab Mobile picks up sample tubes from racks, loads them into analyzers, and retrieves them when processing is complete. It works with Bio-Rad IH-500, Brooks Pathfinder, Cobas, and other standard lab systems via API and MQTT, so it connects to the equipment you already have.
Handles decapping and sample preparation
Before a sample reaches the analyzer, it often needs a cap removed. uLab Mobile performs automated decapping, places the cap separately, and passes the tube to the next step in the workflow. Your technicians don't touch it.
Retrieves and archives samples from refrigerated storage
uLab Mobile accesses refrigerated storage to retrieve archived sample racks and transfer them to processing stations. The same arm that loads analyzers handles cold storage, so the full pre-analytical workflow runs without manual intervention.
Transfers racks between workflow stations
Between pre-analytics, centrifugation, analysis, and archiving, sample racks move constantly. uLab Mobile uses sensor-guided positioning and barcode reading to handle those transfers accurately, keeping the workflow moving without technician involvement at each step.
Operates autonomously during nights and weekends
During the day, uLab Mobile works alongside your team in hybrid mode. At night, it runs the workflow on its own. St. Barbara Hospital Gladbeck runs exactly this model: staff-supported during the day, fully autonomous after hours.
uGo+: the software that runs your lab automation workflow
uLab Mobile doesn't come with fixed routines. uGo+ is the workflow software behind it, where your team defines the task sequence, maps the lab environment, sets priority rules for urgent samples, and adjusts how the robot operates as your needs change. No code required.
In operation
uLab Mobile is in daily service at university hospitals, private laboratory groups and faith-based healthcare providers. Wherever samples and supplies have to move reliably between ward and laboratory, without specialist staff walking the distance.
- Essen University Hospital
- Marburg University Hospital
- Inselspital Bern
- Labor Dr. Heidrich, Hamburg
- KERN, Catholic healthcare provider, Gladbeck
We are happy to put you in touch with users who can share their experience from routine operation.
Try it first
Before a robot moves in your facility, your workflow has already run at ours: at our training centres in Stuhr (laboratory and diagnostics) and Gelsenkirchen (hospital and care) we rehearse your workflow on a real set-up. Book a training-centre visit.
Want to see what uLab Mobile would automate in your lab?
Tell us about your current workflow and the tasks your team spends the most time on. We'll help you work out where uLab Mobile fits.
Talk to our teamWhat uLab Mobile handles in the lab
Analyzer loading and unloading
uLab Mobile tends your analyzers continuously, loading sample racks, inserting individual tubes, and retrieving processed samples. Your instruments stay fed. Your team stays at their workstation.
Sample decapping and preparation
uLab Mobile removes caps from sample tubes, sorts them into designated holders, and passes the open tubes to the next step. A task that takes a technician seconds but happens hundreds of times a day runs automatically.
Refrigerated sample archiving and retrieval
uLab Mobile opens refrigerators, retrieves sample racks, and transfers them to processing stations. When processing is done, it returns samples to cold storage. The cold chain stays intact and no one has to leave their workstation to manage it.
Rack transfer and sample hand-over
Between centrifugation, pre-analytics, and analysis, racks need to move precisely from one holder to the next. uLab Mobile uses sensor-guided alignment and QR code identification to perform those transfers accurately every time.
Instrument tending for third-party systems
uLab Mobile works with the equipment already in your lab. It connects to Brooks Pathfinder, Bio-Rad IH-500, Cobas, and other systems via standard APIs and MQTT. You don't replace your instruments. You add a robot that operates them.
In use at Zentrum fur Labormedizin Bern
The Zentrum fur Labormedizin at Insel Gruppe in Bern runs more than 30,000 analyses per day, making it the diagnostic backbone of one of Switzerland's largest hospital groups. uLab Mobile, deployed there under the name Schorsch, handles sample transport, rack organisation, and instrument tending as part of the lab's daily operations.
What the team says
"Schorsch is a central component of our digitalization strategy."
Executive, Zentrum fur Labormedizin, Insel Gruppe
"The fear that the robot will replace our employees is completely unfounded. On the contrary. It should take over simple, repetitive tasks so our highly trained laboratory staff can focus on high-quality and demanding activities." Laboratory staff member, Zentrum fur Labormedizin, Insel Gruppe
The team's response to the robot says as much as the operational results. Staff greet Schorsch by name in the morning. They've asked, only half-jokingly, whether it can bring coffee next.
Source: Insel Gruppe customer case study video, Zentrum fur Labormedizin Bern. Quotes translated from German.
In use at St. Barbara Hospital Gladbeck
St. Barbara Hospital Gladbeck, operated by Kern GmbH as part of Katholische Einrichtungen Ruhrgebiet Nord, introduced uLab Mobile to automate sample transport and analyzer tending in its clinical laboratory. The system runs in hybrid mode during the day alongside lab staff, and operates fully autonomously during night shifts.
The Managing Director of Kern GmbH described the decision as a conscious strategic step, taken specifically in response to workforce shortages and tightening budgets. The system from URG, he said, convinced them it was a meaningful move toward the future, with applications they could see extending well beyond the lab into logistics, cleaning, and patient support across the facility.
Source: St. Barbara Hospital Gladbeck customer video. Quotes paraphrased from German transcript.
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