Almost all protein crystallography groups have transitioned to robot mounting. The following instructions will demonstrate the complete workflow before, during, and after, your experiment for the average user.
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In the MX Robot GUI (webpage), on the top right corner. If access is currently set to inactive, take over robot access by clicking on thebutton to change it to active.
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2. Add samples to your mount queue
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You can remove sample pins from the mount queue by clicking on the ‘cross’ icon. If you want to remove the entire queue, you can click on the ‘Clear Queue’ button on the right.
3. Mounting your sample and other robot tools
The ‘Mount and Prefetch’ button can be broken into two actions:
“Mount” - robot fetches your next sample pin (sample on the top of the queue) directly from the puck or from the prefetch area and mounts it onto the goniometer (the instrument that rotates).
While the robot is mounting, the robot status will read:
'Goniometer motors locked for mount or collection'
“Prefetch” - robot prefetches your 2nd sample pin (sample second from the top) and places it in a slot that the robot can quickly retrieve.
While the robot is prefetching:
'Robot is busy but safe to collect'
It is safe to start collecting data whilst the robot is prefetching.
Entering the Hutch
If you need to go into the hutch. Make sure you ’Park' the robot. The robot status might read:
‘Robot is idle: Must be parked prior to hutch entry’
Avoid going into the hutch whilst the robot is moving, especially during mount and prefetch stages. For your safety, the robot will cease its movement when the hutch is unlocked and open and can cause it to stall. Parking the robot will take some time, when it is parked the following text should show up on the robot status:
‘Robot parked: Safe for hutch entry’
Finished collecting
When you have finished mounting and collecting your data, it is common courtesy and good beamline etiquette to 'Dismount and Park' the robot for the next user or for the beamline scientists.