METHOD FOR ACCURATELY POSITIONING A ROBOTIC ARM AT A TARGET POSITION IN AN AUTOMATED SAMPLE HANDLING DEVICE AND SUCH A DEVICE

A method accurately positions a robotic manipulator at a target position of a target object in an automated sample handling device. An optical reference object is detectable by imaging located at a first position at a worksurface and a capacitive reference object is located at a second position at the worksurface. A position of the robotic manipulator relative to the second position is detectable by measurements of the electrical impedance/capacitance between the capacitive reference object and the robotic manipulator acting as a measuring probe. An image is then taken of the first reference object together with the target object to determine the target position and a current position of the robotic manipulator is determined based on electrical impedance/capacitance measurements taken at different locations of the capacitive reference object. The robotic manipulator is then moved from the determined current position to the determined target position.