Lab Automation
Moreover, stopping in process experiments to make manual adjustments has an impact on consis- tency and accuracy. By letting the scientists interact with the system in real time, experiments are also more consistent. All of this creates more intuitive process flow, simpler system design and greater uptime due to fewer stoppages for safety reasons. Collaborative robots also allow the fulfilment of full system modularity. While the concept of designing and building laboratory automation sys- tems organised into moveable and configurable modules has been around for some time, the use of industrial robots as the primary workflow element has impeded full modularity. Why? Because typi- cally each module acts as the guarding element between human and robot. By converting to a col- laborative robot, modules can be taken off a sys- tem while it is running without endangering scien- tists. Thus, the use of collaborative robots greatly improves the fulfilment of fully modular designs, not possible with industrial robots.
Beyond the current benefits of collaborative robots mentioned above, potentially the most sig- nificant impact on the drug discovery process will be the proliferation of automation into non-tradi- tional process areas. Robots that can be quickly tasked to new shorter-run workflows, and are able to be moved around without any guarding, will
Drug Discovery World Fall 2017
pave the way for bringing automation to areas of drug discovery not seen before. Over the next 10 years, labs will have opportunities to fully and par- tially automate a wide range of workflows previ- ously off the table due to design constraints. As noted previously, traditional industrial robots are best-suited for high-volume low-variability work- flows. Collaborative robots enable automation of smaller lot sizes with higher degrees of variability as a human actor in concert with a robot can deliv- er substantial flexibility and real-time adjustments as shown in the chart above14.
The potential gains and new applications for drug discovery automation will also be greatly helped by continued technological advancement and price reductions. BCG estimates that robot costs will drop by 22% between now and 2025, while robot performance is increasing at an esti- mated 5% per year15. As the technology cost of incremental lab automation drops, and its perfor- mance increases, the return on investment case for any given workflow being automated gets easier. Smaller and less repetitive workflows become can- didates for automation. As robots become more collaborative and human-robot workflows more common, just as in warehouse automation we will find ways to let the robots do what they do best, and let the humans do the same.
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