Methods and apparatus for dynamic position adjustments of a robot gripper based on sample rack imaging data

A gripper positioning apparatus, comprising:

• a robot including a gripper, the gripper moveable in a coordinate system by the robot and including gripper fingers;
• a sample rack including receptacles accessible by the gripper fingers, at least some of the receptacles containing specimen containers;
• and
• a controller including data, obtained by imaging, regarding the specimen containers in the sample rack, and operatively configured to cause the gripper fingers to be dynamically oriented based upon the data.

A gripper positioning apparatus, comprising:

• a robot including a gripper, the gripper moveable in a coordinate system by the robot and including gripper fingers that open a variable distance;
• a sample rack including receptacles accessible by the gripper fingers, at least some of the receptacles containing specimen containers;
• and
• a robot controller configured to receive data, obtained by imaging, regarding the specimen containers in the sample rack, and operatively configured to cause the gripper fingers to be dynamically oriented to:
• open to an opening distance as determined based on the data,
• rotate to a rotational orientation as determined based on the data, or
• move to an x-y position to provide a condition of least interference between the gripper fingers and neighboring specimen containers contained in the sample rack as determined based on the data.