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Flexible automation accelerates materials discovery

Nature Materials volume 21, pages 722–726 (2022)Cite this article

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Automated experiments can accelerate research and development. ‘Flexible automation’ enables the cost- and time-effective design, construction and reconfiguration of automated experiments. Flexible automation is empowering researchers to deploy new science and technology faster than ever before.

Automated systems perform repetitive tasks quickly and consistently with reduced human intervention. These characteristics are particularly effective in manufacturing, where speed and reproducibility drive down cost and increase quality. The automation of experiments can also benefit research laboratories by generating a larger volume of higher-dimensional data, and by providing better control and higher repeatability of experimental variables. In biology and chemistry, for example, automation is effective for many common experiments involving mixing, processing and analysing small volumes of liquid reagents under mild conditions1.

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Fig. 1: Commoditization of safer, lower-cost, user-friendly robots.
Fig. 2: Flexible automation enables reconfigurable, fully automated materials science experiments.
Fig. 3: Examples of flexible automation in action in materials science.

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Acknowledgements

For sharing their experiences deploying flexible automation, we would like to acknowledge our colleagues E. Booker, N. Taherimakhsousi, M. Elliott, M. Rooney, K. Dettelbach, T. Haley, K. Ocean, T. Morrissey, C. Krzyszkowski, A. Proskurin, S. Steiner, L. Alde, H. Situ, V. Lai and T. Zepel. For encouraging us to adopt machine vision into our workflows and other guidance, we thank J. Platt. We thank Natural Resources Canada (EIP2-MAT-001) for their financial support. C.P.B. is grateful to the Canadian Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (RGPIN-2018-06748), Canadian Foundation for Innovation (229288), Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (BSE-BERL-162173) and Canada Research Chairs for financial support. J.E.H. is supported by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI-35883) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (RCPIN-2016-04613, CRDPJ 530118-18). B.P.M., F.G.L.P. and C.P.B. acknowledge support from the SBQMI’s Quantum Electronic Science and Technology Initiative, the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, and the Quantum Materials and Future Technologies Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Benjamin P. MacLeod, Fraser G. L. Parlane, Amanda K. Brown, Jason E. Hein & Curtis P. Berlinguette

  2. Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Benjamin P. MacLeod, Fraser G. L. Parlane & Curtis P. Berlinguette

  3. Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Curtis P. Berlinguette

  4. Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), MaRS Innovation Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Curtis P. Berlinguette

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  1. Benjamin P. MacLeod
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Correspondence to Curtis P. Berlinguette.

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Peer review information Nature Materials thanks Benji Maruyama and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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MacLeod, B.P., Parlane, F.G.L., Brown, A.K. et al. Flexible automation accelerates materials discovery. Nat. Mater. 21, 722–726 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-021-01156-3

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