Moving tiny amounts of liquid between samples takes up time scientists could spend on discovery. Opentrons, a company building laboratory robots and automation software, has raised $40 million to expand those tools. Its machines sit on lab benches and perform repetitive tasks with motorized pipettes, the instruments used to measure and transfer liquids.
The company says it has deployed more than 11,000 robots in over 80 countries. Its Flex robot can also move sample plates with an optional gripper, allowing more experimental steps to run without someone intervening. Opentrons wants to connect these physical machines with AI software that designs, runs, and improves experiments. The ambition reaches beyond saving time on individual tasks: it would link the planning of an experiment to the laboratory work itself.
Source · siliconangle.com ↗
