Stäubli Robotics Previews World’s First Cleanroom Mobile Robot for INTERPHEX Display

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Stäubli Robotics, a division of the global manufacturer Stäubli, is announcing one piece of its exhibit for INTERPHEX 2025, which will be held at the Javits Center in New York City from April 1–3, 2025. Sterimove, which the company describes as the first mobile robot designed for cleanrooms in the world, is scheduled to make its North American debut at the annual event (1).

According to Stäubli, whose North American headquarters are in Duncan, SC, Sterimove is engineered for Grade A/B/C/D cleanroom environments and meets highest industry standards for minimal contamination risk (1). The company said the robot offers numerous other advantages that improve compliance and ensure the safety of product and worker alike, including safety features such as sensors, collision avoidance systems, emergency stop buttons, and an LED status communication strip—plus easy access to wheels and resistance to vaporized hydrogen peroxide decontamination, to facilitate cleaning.

The robot, according to Stäubli, has a modular design, small footprint, and maneuverability in narrow spaces. It has an encapsulated design that is free of retention areas, which, according to the company, means that all sensors and other critical components are housed within the body of the robot; this prevents the ingress of contaminants and allows for resistance to rigorous cleaning and chemical disinfection (1). Taken together, the design features are intended to bring efficiency and productivity gains other sectors have experienced with mobile robotics into the pharmaceutical industry and enable manufacturers to optimize material flows.

“Sterimove exemplifies our commitment to innovation and excellence in automation technology for the pharmaceutical industry,” Rudolf M. Weiss, global head of Life Sciences & Food at Stäubli Robotics, said in the press release (1). “We are excited to showcase this groundbreaking technology at INTERPHEX 2025.”

In the September 2024 edition of Pharmaceutical Technology®, Irina Rau, regional sales manager for Stäubli Robotics, explained that one driver for new technologies in robotics development is better compliance with European Union Good Manufacturing Practice Annex 1 (Manufacture of Sterile Medicinal Products) (2). This aligns with Stäubli’s disclosure that the Sterimove robot was designed following European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group guidelines as well as FDA compliance in mind, with the help of a Stäubli customer and “major player in the pharmaceutical industry,” according to the company (1).

Regarding specific technical elements, Rau also said new technologies also, among other advantages, can allow an operator outside an isolator to use a robotic arm to perform interventions inside the isolator without breaking the barrier. These technologies can provide an opportunity to avoid opening the isolator, thereby losing a batch of product (2). An inherent challenge is to design a robot’s movements to ensure ease of use for all operators—while keeping in mind flexibility, sensitivity, and safety of the process for both operators and the equipment itself.

In addition to its South Carolina headquarters, Stäubli North America has facilities in Novi, Michigan; Queretaro, Mexico; and sales personnel located on both the east and west coasts of the United States, serving the US (including Puerto Rico) and Canada (1).

Stäubli Robotics exhibited at INTERPHEX 2024 and will be at the event again in 2025, at Booth 3443 (1). You can find more of Pharmaceutical Technology®’s INTERPHEX coverage by clicking here.

References

1. Stäubli. Stäubli Robotics to Unveil the World’s First Mobile Pharma Robot at INTERPHEX 2025. Press Release. Feb. 21, 2025.
2. Markarian, J. Advancing Robotic Automation. Pharmaceutical Technology 2024 48 (9).