A robotic procedure for the determination of soil lime requirement

Abstract

A commercial laboratory robot has been programmed to aid in the determination of soil lime requirement. Soil samples submitted to our laboratory, after drying, grinding, and sieving, are manually scooped into racks of pre‐weighed glass tubes. From this point onward, the robot performs all functions. The weight of soil in each tube is obtained using an analytical balance. Deionized water is added using a mobile pipet, and the contents of each tube stirred, and optionally centrifuged. The soil/water pH (pHw) is determined using a mobile combination electrode. SMP buffer solution is added, the contents stirred, optionally centrifuged again, and the soil/SMP buffer pH (pHsMP) value is obtained. The weight and two sets of pH data for each soil sample are transferred to disk, and lime requirement results calculated using a computer spreadsheet program.