A robotic laboratory automation system includes a vision feedback apparatus with one or more teaching plates adapted for placement in a microplate or other specimen holder of a laboratory instrument or stack to represent the location of the microplate. The vision feedback system is adapted to control the robotic manipulator to automatically adjust the location of the manipulator to a position adjacent to a teaching plate upon locating a pattern on the teaching plate and then store the coordinates of the determined position. With the stored position coordinates the robot can return to the determined positions previously represented by the location of teaching plates to locate an actual microplate or specimen holder at the determined position without the vision feedback system.