Laboratory Automation

Ask about this topic

Overview

Laboratory automation studies how to make experimental work—from preparing samples and operating instruments to collecting and analyzing data—more repeatable and less dependent on manual effort. Approaches include scripted orchestration and instrument interfaces, language-model agents that translate protocols into actions, vision-language-action robot policies, and closed-loop control using camera or sensor feedback. Self-driving labs use these tools to run iterative experiments, while simulation platforms and benchmarks test manipulation, protocol execution, and safety before or alongside real-world trials. A central challenge is ensuring that systems are safe and precise across unfamiliar equipment and long workflows: completing a task does not necessarily mean the experiment met its scientific tolerances or produced valid results.

Latest papers

CardsList

62 papers9 papers in the last four weeks, up 29% on the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

  1. Making Self-Driving Laboratories Auditable:A Unified Framework for Hybrid Actions,Measurements, and Safe Execution

    Oct 27, 2026Zihan Zhang, Zeyu Wu, Xin Zhang +3Laboratory AutomationAutonomous Experimentation

    SII–ECNU Joint Autonomous Chemistry Laboratory, Shanghai Innovation Institute · Nankai University · Shanghai Lixun Intelligent Technology Co.,Ltd +2

  2. Semantic Representation for Agentic Self-Play in Automated Laboratories

    Oct 23, 2026Yves Delley, John Coller, Zachary Cutts +12Autonomous ExperimentationLaboratory Automation

    Google Research · Google Cloud · Google DeepMind

  3. RAISE-Vision: An Automated Contact Angle Measurement Platform for Contact Lens Wettability Characterization

    Oct 23, 2026Erin Ng, Mohammad Nazeri, Julie S Liu +3Laboratory Automation

    Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada · Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME), University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada · Department of Chemical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada +4

  4. Self-Building Labs

    Oct 16, 2026Jiaru Bai, Yuchi Zhao, Han Hao +4Laboratory AutomationAutonomous Experimentation

    Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5S 3H6, Canada · Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence, W1140-108 College St., Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus, Toronto, ON M5G 0C6, Canada · Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, 40 St George St., Toronto, ON M5S 2E4, Canada +6

  5. LabCompiler: A Framework for Verifiable Human-Machine Laboratory Execution from Imperfect Protocols

    Oct 14, 2026Jingyuan Li, Dongzhan Zhou, Minting Pan +10Laboratory AutomationHuman-in-the-Loop AI

    Shanghai Jiao Tong University · Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory · Fudan University +2

  6. DexBioLab: Benchmarking Dexterous Manipulation with Dynamic Experimental Phenomena in Realistic Laboratories

    Oct 9, 2026Xuanye Wu, Yue Shi, Yongcan Yang +8Robot Manipulation BenchmarksRobotic Manipulation

    Shanghai AI Laboratory · Huazhong University of Science and Technology · University of Southern California +1

  7. Progress and Prospect of AI in ARPES Workflow

    Oct 7, 2026Sandy Adhitia Ekahana, Aalok Tiwari, Pratik Saud +4AI-Assisted Scientific ResearchScientific Workflow Automation

    Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, 15213, PA, USA. · MAESTRO, Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.

  8. RoboChemGym: A Protocol-Driven Generative Simulation Framework for Long-Horizon Chemical Manipulation

    Oct 2, 2026Chenxi Li, Haiyuan Wan, Rui Li +10Robotics SimulationSynthetic Data Generation for Robotics

    Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory · Zhejiang University · Tsinghua University +7

  9. A Passive AI System for Verifying Physical State on Automated Liquid Handlers

    Oct 2, 2026Junqiong Joanne Qiu, Zeckria Kamrany, Ananya Anand +7Laboratory AutomationRobotic Inspection

    Department of Computational Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA · Department of Computer Science, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA · Department of Mathematics, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

  10. Tool-Policy Co-Design for Powder Weighing in Laboratory Automation

    Sep 30, 2026Nikola Radulov, Xin Yang, Kevin S. Luck +1Robot Morphology-Control Co-DesignRobotic Tool Use

    School of Computer Science & Informatics, University of Liverpool, UK. · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculty of Science, Netherlands. · Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, UK.

  11. Vision-Language Agents for Active Perception in Optics Laboratories

    Sep 26, 2026Ryan Lopez, Sachin Vaidya, Seou Choi +2Tool-Using Vision-Language AgentsActive Perception

    Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology · NSF Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions

  12. SciHorizon-eLab: An Agentic Protocol-to-Task Compiler for Scalable Benchmarking of Scientific Embodied Agents

    Sep 25, 2026Maokai Qin, Chuan Qin, Qi Zhang +5Embodied AIAI Agent Benchmarks

    Data Intelligence for Scientific Innovation Lab, Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences · Beihang University

  13. WetRobo: A Reproducible Robot Kit for Coding Agents in Biological Laboratories

    Sep 16, 2026Yuna Oikawa, Kei Endo, Takanori Uzawa +5Robot Policy AdaptationCode Generation for Robotics

    Department of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Japan · RIKEN Pioneering Research Institute, Japan · New York University, USA +3

  14. A Programmable Optics Cloud Laboratory

    Sep 14, 2026Sachin Vaidya, Caio Silva, Seou Choi +2Laboratory AutomationScientific Reproducibility

    Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA · NSF Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions and the Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

  15. La Agente Óptima: Towards Agentic Self-Driving Laboratories

    Sep 3, 2026Marcel Müller, Jiaru Bai, Willi Gottstein +14Bayesian OptimizationLarge Language Model-Guided Optimization

    Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, 80 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5S 3H6, Canada · Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence, W1140-108 College St., Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus, Toronto, ON2026 M5G 0C6, Canada · Acceleration Consortium, 700 University Ave., Toronto, ON M7A 2S4, Canada +11

  16. VLA-Precision: Asymmetric Co-Bootstrapping for Efficient Real-World Online RL of Vision-Language-Action Models

    Sep 3, 2026Chenyu Su, Zhaolong Shen, Yuan Qian +8Efficient VLA ModelsLaboratory Automation

    University of Science and Technology of China · Beihang University · Zhongguancun Academy +2

  17. A computable representation of the physical laboratory enables verifiable workflows

    Sep 3, 2026Xiaobo Li, Luyao Ge, Xiaohui Li +8Agentic WorkflowsRobotics

    State Key Laboratory of Precision and Intelligent Chemistry, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China · Center for Scientific Intelligence Innovation, Hefei, China · Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

  18. Agentic AI for operating scientific instruments for nanoscale characterization

    Aug 25, 2026Zahra Ayar, Marcos Penedo, Mahdi Mehdikhani +3Laboratory AutomationAgentic Workflows

    Laboratory for Bio- and Nano-Instrumentation, Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne 1015, Switzerland

  19. LabDex: A Hierarchical Benchmark for Dexterous Manipulation in Laboratories

    Aug 19, 2026Zhipeng Tang, Sihang Chen, Sha Zhang +11Robot Manipulation BenchmarksDexterous Manipulation

    University of Science and Technology of China · The Chinese University of Hong Kong · iFLYTEK

  20. Multi-Tool Robotics Enables In-Situ Sample Manipulation for Time-Resolved Synchrotron Measurements

    Aug 19, 2026Aditya Bondada, Elizabeth M. Wall, Eric Yuan Xiao +4Robotic ManipulationLaboratory Automation

    Center for Functional Nanomaterials Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, NY 11973, USA · Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Princeton University Princeton, NJ 08540, USA · Department of Mechanical Engineering Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY 11790, USA +1

  21. An Interactive, Automated 4D-STEM data acquisition and analysis routine for Scanning Electron Nanobeam Diffraction and Ptychography experiments

    Aug 13, 2026Mohsen Danaie, Max England, Yiming Xu +11Electron MicroscopyScientific Workflow Automation

  22. Representation Handoffs for OpenArm-Based Laboratory Mobile Manipulation

    Aug 7, 2026Yang Shen, Chonghao Cheng, Ziyi Zhao +6Language-Conditioned Robot ManipulationMobile Manipulation

    University of Technology Sydney · Southern University of Science and Technology

  23. ProtoAct: Turning Wet-Lab Protocols into Embodied Robotic Actions

    Aug 3, 2026Zhe Liu, Jiaming Gu, Zhaohui Du +7RoboticsLaboratory Automation

    Key Laboratory of Smart Manufacturing in Energy Chemical Process, Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China · Department of Computer Science and Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China · Department of Laboratory Medicine, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China +1

  24. LabEvolver: Training-Free Experience Evolution for Safe and Grounded Wet-Lab Agents

    Jul 30, 2026Jingya Wang, Yuyang Gao, Liuzhenghao Lv +2Agent MemoryAI Agents for Scientific Discovery

    School of Computer Science, Peking University · School of AI for Science, Peking University · School of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Peking University

  25. PUDA: An AI-Native Hardware Harness for Self-Driving Laboratories

    Jul 29, 2026Zekun Ren, Hongzhao Tan, Jiaen Yee +1Laboratory AutomationTool-Using Agents

    Berkeley Education Alliance for Research in Singapore (BEARS) · School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

  26. Agentic AI for Scientific Reasoning in Autonomous Quantum Sensing Experiments

    Jul 27, 2026Takuya Isogawa, Ryotaro Okabe, Nutdech Phadetsuwannukun +2AI Agent BenchmarksLaboratory Automation

    Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA · Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA · Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

  27. LabRobFail: A Benchmark for Robotic Failure Analysis in Chemical Self-driving Laboratory

    Jul 26, 2026Haobo Wang, Baoli Sun, Anqi Zou +8Robot Failure DetectionRobotics

    School of Software, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China · Shenzhen Loop Area Institute-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone, Shenzhen, China · School of Computer Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China +3

  28. Stress-testing large language model agents in a robotic chemistry laboratory

    Jul 25, 2026Lulu Guo, Yingkai Sun, Xiaobo Li +13AI Agent ReliabilityAI Agents for Scientific Discovery

    State Key Laboratory of Precision and Intelligent Chemistry, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China · Center for Scientific Intelligence Innovation, Hefei, China · School of Chemistry, School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

  29. Scalable Low-Cost Laboratory Automation: A Digital Twin-Integrated Robotic Platform for Autonomous Liquid Handling (RAINBOT)

    Jul 22, 2026Mohamed Rami Ayeche, Souhil Sid, Ahyen Mostofa +3Laboratory AutomationRobotic Manipulation

    Acceleration Consortium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. · AISCIA Informatics, Qatar Science and Technology Park, Doha, Qatar · Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Education City, Doha, Qatar.

  30. AEGIS: Assay-Aware Protocol Validation and Runtime Monitoring for Open-Source Liquid Handling Robots

    Jul 17, 2026Priyanka V. Setty, Arvind Ramanathan, Ian Foster +1Robotic Anomaly DetectionLaboratory Automation

    a Data Science and Learning Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA. · b Department of Computer Science, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.