Identification of sample cells in a chromatography autosampler

A system for identification of sample cells of a sample tray for placement in a chromatography autosampler, each sample cell having (i) a container having a side wall and (ii) a cap having an end surface visible from the sample tray, the system comprising:

• a machine vision (MV) module within the autosampler, the MV module including a camera assembly, the camera assembly comprising a horizontally-directed camera to scan the side wall of each sample cell and a vertically-directed camera configured to scan the end surfaces of all the sample cells of the sample tray;
• a gripper assembly configured to selectively grip, lift, and rotate respected sample cells relative to the sample tray;
• and
• a computing device that controls the MV module, wherein the computing device is configured to (i) controller the gripper assembly to grip, lift, and rotate one of the sample cells above adjacent sample cells of the sample tray, (ii) control the horizontally-directed camera to scan the side wall of the one sample cell while rotated by the cell gripper assembly, (iii) determine an identity of the sample in the sample cell based upon the scanned side walls and/or end surfaces of each sample cell, (iv) determine a bottom liquid level based upon the scanned side walls, (v) identify an inner bottom surface of the sample cell and a foreign object within the sample cell, and (vi) control the sampling needle assembly and limit the insertion depth of a sample needle of the sampling needle assembly based on a position of the bottom liquid level, the bottom surface, and the foreign object of a respective sample cell to avoid damaging the sample needle.