Autonomous laboratories

What are autonomous laboratories?

Autonomous “self-driving” laboratories represent an emerging technology, with the potential to transform materials, chemistry, and biosciences, and to accelerate deployment of research outputs into U.S. manufacturing supply chains. 

Autonomous laboratories provide a new operational paradigm involving advanced algorithms (including artificial intelligence), which select which samples are made and how they are characterized, typically within a closed feedback loop with the goal of maximizing the knowledge gained with each experimental iteration. 

In a fully autonomous laboratory, sample generation, characterization, and handling are achieved with high levels of automation, needing little human interaction. This empowers human scientists and engineers to focus on their scientific creativity and intellectually substantive endeavors.