Integrated consumable data management system and platform

An automated assay system comprising:

• a robotic gripper arm and a robotic pipettor;
• a plate carrier;
• a plurality of plate shakers;
• an air cooling system;
• an assay consumable storage unit for assay reagents;
• an assay consumable storage unit for plates;
• an assay consumable storage unit for pipette tips;
• and
• at least one of a platform or a table,
• wherein the assay consumable storage unit for plates is attached to a front edge of the platform or table in a cantilevered manner,
• wherein the plate carrier is located behind the assay consumable storage unit for plates, and behind the front edge of the platform, and
• wherein the plurality of plate shakers are located toward a back of the platform.

An automated assays system comprising

• (a) a processing deck for holding assay components providing a substantially rectangular surface with a front edge, a first side edge, a second side edge and a back edge;
• said deck supporting
• (i) an assay consumable hotel substantially centered and cantilevered over the front edge of the deck having a plurality of consumable slots sized to hold consumables that meet ANSI-SLAS specifications for width and length of 96-well assay plates
• (ii) a plurality of pipette tip locations for holding pipette tip containers located on a first side of the deck
• (iii) a plurality of plate shaker locations located along the back edge of the deck
• (iv) a set of processing locations located substantially in the center of the deck between the hotel and the shakers that are configured to hold consumables with ANSI-SLAS compliant dimensions
• (v) a bar code scanner located on the first side of the deck behind the pipette tip locations, the bar code scanner having a scanning surface large enough to scan a bottom surface of a consumable with ANSI-SLAS compliant dimensions,
• (b) a plate washer located under the deck and accessible through an aperture in the deck between the pipette locations and the assay plate processing locations;
• (c) a gantry located above the deck movably supporting a robotic plate gripper such that the gripper can move to access locations (i) through (v) and movable supporting a robotic 8 channel pipettor such that the pipettor can access locations (ii) and (iv)
• (d) an assay reader located next to the first side of the deck on a platform that is at a lower vertical elevation than the deck, wherein the highest point on the reader is lower than the lowest point that the robotic gripper can move;
• and
• (e) an enclosure surrounding components (a) to (d) with a temperature controller for maintaining the components under temperature control and with a door providing user access to the front edge of the deck and the consumable hotel located thereon.