Old stereotypes of scientific laboratories often involve wild-eyed scientists pouring beakers of colorful liquids into long, spiralling tube systems. Meanwhile, steam sputters out and fills the room, and even more colorful liquids bubble away. It is exciting, but far removed from the reality of laboratories today.
For one thing, fewer tasks are being physically performed by actual scientists. Instead, modern technologies are helping scientists automate repetitive tasks and reach new levels of precision. Perhaps nothing has had as large an effect in this regard as laboratory robotics.
Laboratory robotics is simply the integration and use of robots and other automation technologies in laboratories. There is no doubt that this field will continue to help shape science in the future. This is a guide to what laboratory robotics is doing today and where it could go in the future.
Types of laboratory robots
Lab robots are not android lab assistants which can do anything, at least not yet. But they can often do a single specific task very well. Here are some of the most common types of robots found in laboratories today.
- Liquid handling robots – Liquid handling robotics describes robots that automate tasks such as pipetting, dosing, mixing, and diluting liquids. Not only do they take up less lab space than a human, but they excel in making extremely precise measurements.
- Plate handling robots – There are also robotic process automation solutions for handling microplates and other laboratory items. These can load plates, move them to other workstations, and unload them again, freeing up valuable time for scientists to do other things.
- Robotic arms – There’s many types of these, and they can do many different things. These include gripping as well as moving plates and samples around.
- Robotic microscopes – These take pictures of organic samples, such as cells or tissue, then they can analyse the images to detect any pathogens that might be present.
- Microplate readers – These quickly retrieve data stored in microplates.
What laboratory robots can do
- Automated sample handling: Contaminating samples, mixing them up, and simple human error are all risks that can derail an important and expensive experiment. Laboratory robotic systems, however, are much less error-prone. They can move samples around and manipulate them without ever getting confused or causing them to come into contact with something that they shouldn’t.
- Hazardous substance management: It is not only humans that can damage samples. Often scientists have to work with samples which could harm them. Today, there is less danger because robots can automate the handling of toxic, corrosive, or infectious substances.
- Precision medicine: This involves using a patient’s genetic and biological makeup to tailor their medical treatment. Doing this often involves DNA sequencing and other laborious tasks, but robots will help to automate these processes in the future.
- Total lab automation: The ambitious end goal of laboratory robotics is to have a fully automated lab which is overseen by scientists but requires no physical interference. This should reduce the risk of errors, as well as make experiments faster and cheaper.
Robotic process automation is becoming more popular in laboratories globally, and it is easy to see why. These new technologies are accelerating the scientific process and offer the potential to make future research much more efficient.
