Laboratory Robotics and Automation 

About: Laboratory Robotics and Automation is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Flow injection analysis & Automation. It has an ISSN identifier of 0895-7533. Over the lifetime, 163 publications have been published receiving 1286 citations.

Design of a very versatile software program for automating analytical methods

Abstract: The present article proposes the design of a hardware-independent system for automating various analytical methods. System design is based on the division of the software into four layers, defining a communications interface among them. The definition of these layers allows the isolation of the highest, corresponding to the analytical application, from the lowest, the hardware, composed of the various parts of the block diagram. Although this system was initially designed for automating flow techniques (flow-injection analysis, FIA, and sequential-injection analysis, SIA), its conception allows the development of much more general applications, depending on the user's imagination. The system is very open, in the sense that it is not necessary to adapt the program as system possibilities are expanded. Thus, if new instrumentation (modules in the block diagram) is incorporated, one need only develop independently a minimum of software to comply with the previously defined interface. This system has been developed under the 32-bit Windows 95 environment, making the exchange of information with other applications very simple and allowing the various possibilities offered by the program to be executed simultaneously (for example, data acquisition and processing). © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Lab Robotics and Automation 11: 131–140, 1999

Basic optimization methods of redundant manipulators

Abstract: In this article, basic optimization methods of redundant manipulators are surveyed. First, some mathematical tools for redundancy utilization are introduced. Then, two methods for redundancy control, that is, local and global optimization methods, are described in three levels of problem formulation, that is, velocity input formulation, acceleration input formulation, and torque input formulation. As for the local optimization, we introduce the task-decomposition approach in which a total task to be performed by the manipulator is decomposed into two (or more) subtasks with order of priority. Two cases of this approach are explained in detail. One is the case where the second subtask is specified by a desired trajectory for some manipulation variables, and the other is the case where the second subtask is specified by a criterion function. Applications of the method to avoiding obstacles and avoiding singular configurations are also illustrated. As for the global optimization, after formulating the problem as optimal control problems, it is shown that necessary conditions of optimality can be given by using the calculus of variations or the Maximum Principle. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Automated sample processing using robotics for genetic typing of short tandem repeat polymorphisms by capillary electrophoresis

Abstract: We have assembled a robotic system that couples DNA purification from bloodstain cards with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification in an automated and uninterrupted process. This system will enable thousands of samples to be processed a day and is designed to be modular to allow peripheral devices to be added or upgraded as needed. Current work involves using the robotic system to produce PCR amplification products derived from loci consisting of short tandem repeats (STRs). To further reduce labor hours, these products are then detected by automated capillary electrophoresis, which eliminates the requirement to cast gels and manually load samples. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.