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Automation for Life Science Laboratories

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Smart Biolabs of the Future

Part of the book series: Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology ((ABE,volume 182))

Abstract

The automation of processes in all areas of the life sciences will continue to increase in the coming years due to an ever increasing number of samples to be processed, an increasing need to protect laboratory personnel from infectious material and increasing cost pressure. Depending on the requirements of the respective application, different concepts for automation systems are available, which have a different degree of automation with regard to data handling, transportation tasks, and the processing of the samples. Robots form a central component of these automation concepts. Classic stationary robots from the industrial sector will increasingly be replaced by new developments in the field of light-weight robots. In addition, mobile robots will also be of particular importance in the automation of life science laboratories in the future, especially for transportation tasks between different manual and (partially) automated stations. With an increasing number of different, highly diverse processes, the need for special devices and system components will also increase. This applies to both, the handling of the labware and the processing of the samples. In contrast to previous automation strategies with a highly parallel approach, future developments will increasingly be characterized by individual sample handling.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Life Science Automation, University Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    Kerstin Thurow

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  1. Kerstin Thurow
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Correspondence to Kerstin Thurow .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Technical Chemistry, Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany

    Sascha Beutel

  2. Institute of Natural Materials Technology, Chair of Bioprocess Engineering, Technische Universitaet Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Felix Lenk

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Thurow, K. (2021). Automation for Life Science Laboratories. In: Beutel, S., Lenk, F. (eds) Smart Biolabs of the Future. Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, vol 182. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/10_2021_170

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