Consider an assay with a fixed incubation window. The liquid handler can finish dispensing on time while the reader is still occupied. Before deciding how many plates to release, the scheduler needs to account for reader availability, transfer time and the permitted delay for each plate.
If a transfer stops, the controller needs to establish where the plate is and whether dispensing has already occurred. The recovery sequence should preserve the link between sample, well and result, including when an operator removes a plate.
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