Now Available: Coatyl 350 Telemanipulator Cart
The Coatl, often depicted as a feathered serpent, is a significant figure in Mesoamerican mythology; symbolising arts, crafts, knowledge, and learning. We chose to pursue a more life-like depiction of the creature for our product mascot, with plumage inspired by one of Costa Rica’s most charismatic species, the scarlet macaw.
Artist: G. Hartanto, for EMW S.R.L.
The year 2024 was one of significant change for the world around us as much as for ourselves. For Elliott Machine Works, 2024 was our founding year, and we look forward to the rest of 2025 with buoyancy of spirit, both for our product launches coming this year on our part, and for the industry as a whole. Today, we would like to introduce one of those products, which is now leaving its prototype stage. We believe it will bring considerable quality-of-life improvements to a wide range of facilities operating telemanipulators, large or small.
Design work on the Coatyl carts benefited from our combined total of over two decades of experience in mechanical matters and the radiopharmaceutical industry. We have experience installing and pulling telemanipulators and overseeing such operations over long time scales, and we have been aware of some of its innate difficulties for a long time. Pulls and installs are a daunting and sometimes dangerous task, particularly for smaller teams or less experienced team members— especially with bulkier models such as CRL-GHD series manipulators. Moving around manipulators, similarly, in many places, is an ad-hoc, physically demanding task. To solve both problems, the Coatyl 350 has been designed to handle the majority of telemanipulators on the market, allowing for one-man removals and installations.
A late stage prototype Coatyl 350 bearing a Trumotion-made telemanipulator, at the centred position. The saddle is a CRL-type, with a spacer to ensure a tight fit for the smaller Trumotion through-tube. The entire cart can slide forwards up to a maximum of 36”, allowing for flexibility if certain cell wall features prevent coming directly up to the portholes. The design is reversible (see the hanging fixtures facing the viewer in the image), meaning a cell can be approached from the left or right.
For the Coatyl 350, we have created a unique saddle design that holds the manipulator’s through-tube steady for alignment with the hot cell’s portholes and a lift carriage capable of safely handling manipulators up to 350lbs (158kg). The all-aluminium saddle assembly moves on rails, allowing the manipulator to be slid directly from the Coatyl’s hold into a porthole without manual handling. The same holds in reverse, with the saddle apparatus being slid out from the lift carriage to assist in pulling a manipulator free of its port at significantly reduced effort and risk to facility staff. We have saddle designs ready and available for CRL and HWM manipulators and inserts for each that allow for the saddle to accommodate a Trumotion through-tube. We look forward to expanding our saddle offerings in the future to include other telemanipulator manufacturers’ through-tubes as well.
In the future, we look forward to expanding the Coatyl further, with plans currently in the works for a Coatyl 500 (500lbs-rated) version and a Coatyl Storage model for multi-manipulator storage and maintenance/handling. For the time being, the 350 model is available for order on our website’s product page, or via inquiry on our contact page.