Cytomat 6000

The Cytomat 6000 is a mid-size random-access plate store built around a rotary carousel — the smallest of Revolution’s three rotary Cytomat stores by footprint, alongside the Cytomat 10C and Cytomat 24 (PH). Revolution’s driver for it does not expose any atmosphere or shaking control; only the Cytomat 2 does. Thermo’s own C600x-series and 6001 incubators at this size do offer temperature and humidity control, but that isn’t wired up as a schedulable operation on this device class.

At a glance

Capacity	Up to 189 standard (96-/384-well) SBS microplates
Default grid (Revolution simulation layout)	9 columns × 21 rows
Atmosphere / shaking control	Not exposed by this driver
Revolution control	The store’s turntable and shovel transfer mechanism; self-scan inventory

Specifications

Thermo Fisher’s published figure for this size of Cytomat is up to 189 standard SBS microplates, consistent across the 6000/6001/C600x listings for this footprint. A breakdown by plate type (1536-well, deep-well, etc.) specific to this size could not be confidently sourced, so it isn’t given here.

Revolution’s default simulation layout — 9 columns × 21 rows, which multiplies out to 189 — lines up with that published figure. This is a default used for simulation and commissioning, not a guaranteed physical maximum; actual capacity depends on plate height and the shelf pitch fitted.

Supported methods

Transfer mechanism

• Extend shovel / retract shovel
• Rotate shovel to carousel / rotate shovel to setdown — the shovel moves between two fixed positions on this device, not to an arbitrary location
• Rotate turntable to store location
• Move height motor to above / below store location
• Move to wait position
• Move transfer station to basic position / to position 2 — only meaningful where a transfer station is fitted (HasTransferStation device property)
• Open / close automatic lift door
• Initialise hardware

This is the store’s own mechanism exposed step by step. A schedule should normally rely on the scheduler’s standard pick/place mechanism to store and retrieve plates and leave it at that — the individual movements above exist for commissioning, teaching and fault recovery, where you need to place the shovel or the turntable exactly rather than move a plate.

Inventory and status

• Start self scan / Start self scan (full)
• Show status / Show extended status
• Show extended options settings

A self-scan rebuilds the inventory from what is physically present. Run one after any manual loading, or Revolution’s view of the contents is only as good as its bookkeeping.

Integration

Prerequisites

• The store must be reachable from the Revolution host.
• Plate type must suit the store’s shelf pitch; capacity depends on plate height.
• This driver does not read back or set temperature, humidity, CO₂ or O₂ — plan atmosphere- sensitive work around that rather than assuming set points exist to check.
• Run a self-scan after manual loading.

If you need more of this instrument driven from a schedule, get in touch — the driver is extended on demand.