Plantlet Holder and Handling System

A robotic plantlet handling apparatus including:

• a workstation having an operator work portion, a material source portion, a material delivery portion and a robot arm;
• at least one housing located at the material source portion and containing a plurality of plantlet holders;
• at least one said housing located at said material delivery portion and adapted to receive a plurality of said plantlet holders;
• and
• a plantlet holder manipulator on said robot arm and adapted to engage said handling portion for movement of a plantlet holder between said material source portion, said operator work portion, and said material delivery portion, said plantlet holders each being formed of open-celled phenolic foam and comprising an upper portion with a plantlet insertion well in its upper end and a lower portion adapted to locate in an opening in a support, the upper portion having an outer wall surface forming a handling portion adapted to be frictionally gripped by said robotic arm for handling.

A plant cloning method including the steps of:

• (i) providing a workstation having an operator work portion, a material source portion, a material delivery portion and a robot arm;
• (ii) locating in said workstation at least one housing at the material source portion and containing plantlets in a plurality of plantlet holders, said plantlet holders each being formed of open-celled phenolic foam and comprising an upper portion with a plantlet insertion well in its upper end and a lower portion adapted to locate in an opening in a support, the upper portion having an outer wall surface forming a handling portion adapted to be frictionally gripped by said robotic arm for handling, the housing being closed by a lid having a complementary engagement periphery adapted to mechanically and sealingly engage a corresponding peripheral lip of the housing;
• (iii) locating in said workstation at least one other said housing at said material delivery portion and adapted to receive a plurality of said plantlet holders;
• (iv) removing said lid to a storage location;
• (v) operating said robot arm and a plantlet holder manipulator thereon to engage the handling portion of and remove a plantlet holder from the housing at the material source portion and deliver the holder to a work stand adapted to receive and retain the plantlet holder for a worker to operate on the plantlet in the holder;
• (vi) operating on the plant material to produce one or more product-containing plantlet holders;
• (vii) operating said robot arm and a plantlet holder manipulator thereon to engage the handling portion of and remove a plantlet holder from a work stand to a said housing at said material delivery portion;
• (viii) repeating step (vii) to exhaust product bearing plantlet holders on work stands;
• (ix) repeating steps (v) to (viii) until a said housing at said material delivery portion is loaded;
• and
• (x) installing said lid on said loaded housing.