Laboratory automation
Laboratory automation is a special area of automation technology . It deals with the automation of laboratory processes in chemistry, bio, pharmaceutical and food technology as well as in medicine.
origin
The term laboratory automation (also laboratory automation) was coined in the chemical industry in the 1970s. Laboratory automation was originally created in order to automatically carry out the basic chemical process engineering operations such as stirring, temperature control, dosing, etc., as well as the registration and monitoring of the measured values , which were previously performed manually in laboratory syntheses . The aim was to improve reproducibility and save costs through automated driving. The first "automatic laboratory reactors" consisted of a glass reactor , a heating / cooling thermostat, at least one metering system (e.g. metering pump ) for the defined addition of starting materials or for pH control , an electric stirrer drive and possibly other glass assemblies, Sensors and laboratory equipment . The sensors (e.g. for temperature and pH), actuators (pumps and valves ) and devices (stirrer and heating / cooling thermostat ) were connected to a computer via a so-called process interface, which controls the processes, records the measured values and if necessary, could regulate process variables (pH, temperature).
application
Today the term laboratory automation spans a wide field in the chemical, biotechnical and food and beverage industries and is by no means clear any more. The devices and programs for laboratory automation differ significantly depending on whether they are used to automate a procedural laboratory process, e.g. B. a laboratory reactor system or to automate an analytical laboratory . Accordingly, the laboratory automation providers have usually specialized in the areas of synthesis or analysis . Automating work steps in the laboratory not only relieves employees in order to counteract the shortage of skilled workers , but also increases reliability. The accuracy of machine execution of repetitive activities is used here.
Digitization of processes
Many work processes in a modern laboratory can be carried out by computer-aided laboratory automation systems. This includes the automatic execution of measurements of all kinds (with the help of suitable sensors and analyzers), the control of the actuators (pumps, valves, robots, etc.), the automatic keeping of the laboratory journal as well as the filtering, evaluation and display of information from databases. In order to get a computer to automatically perform the required operations, simple yet powerful and versatile programming languages are required. Standard programming languages such as BASIC , C or Delphi are poorly suited for these tasks, as they lack the important properties of time-dependent commands for implementing time-controlled processes and the ability to multitask . Normal automation languages are suitable in principle, but are too complicated to use for normal laboratory users.
After it was recognized that in the laboratory and pilot plant area, beyond the basic functions performed by the classic process control systems (PLS), such as the acquisition of measured values, control and regulation, the requirements are increasingly expanding to include higher-level control functions, the working group 2.4 of the standards working group for Measurement and control technology in the chemical industry ( NAMUR ) the requirements for process control technology in the field of research and development are systematically compiled in worksheet NA 27. These include u. a. Possibilities for logging and evaluation, for optimizing the process flow, or for comfortable configuration by non-specialists. In the NAMUR recommendation NE 28 “Recommendation for the implementation of electrical plug connections for analog and digital signal transmission on individual laboratory MSR devices” of the working group 2.4, it is required that the instrumentation components (sensors, actuators, laboratory devices etc.) be confused by the laboratory staff without any wiring work can be connected to the automation system.
Individual evidence
- ↑ christiangerstner: Laboratory Automation: Quo vadis? In: Innovative Consulting and Education for Laboratories | Geniu. June 18, 2018, accessed January 6, 2020 (American English).