ARISE – Adaptive Robotics for Integrated Systems in Laboratory Environments
In the ARISE project, we work with our endowing companies to develop automation solutions for everyday laboratory work, from individual manual tasks to partially automated processes.
The project is divided into four areas:
- Process analysis: We record and assess manual workflows, map them in flowcharts and compare them with existing market solutions and the scientific literature.
- Development and proof of concept: In our laboratories at the TTZ, we develop and test solutions before they are deployed in real-world laboratory settings.
- Joint project: We are developing a modular solution for the semi- to fully automated handling of Petri dishes.
- Bilateral subprojects: Individual challenges call for individual solutions, so we develop them bilaterally, for example for sample handling, pipetting, opening sample containers and detecting liquid phases.
Many laboratories still sort, open and pipette by hand. These tasks are repetitive, time-consuming and physically demanding, and they tie up skilled staff who are urgently needed elsewhere. This is where ARISE comes in. First, we evaluate the current process and research solution approaches available on the market. In our laboratories at the TTZ, we then develop targeted solutions for individual process steps and demonstrate in a proof of concept that they work. Our infrastructure also allows us to test commercially available devices with closed or limited interfaces for their suitability and to adapt them where necessary. This gives our partners confidence that a process runs reliably before they deploy a system in their own laboratory. In parallel, our bilateral subprojects are producing a system for individual sample handling, an assistive device for opening sample containers with high closure forces that relieves strain on employees’ wrists, and automated detection of different liquid phases, among other developments. In the joint project, we are working with several partners to develop a modular solution for Petri dishes. It can be operated semi-automatically or fully automatically and covers the entire workflow, from the unpacked stack to the analyzed sample.
Do you have a specific challenge in your own laboratory, would you like to get involved in the project, or are you a student interested in working with us? ARISE thrives on the exchange between practice and research. Get in touch and together we will find out which processes in your laboratory can be automated.
