Journal of Laboratory Automation

This presentation provides a concrete example of an application developed using the component-based framework [1]. A sample inventory and control system was developed for the purpose of aliquoting, distributing and tracking biologic molecules in pharmaceutical drug development. This presentation will provide an overview of the workflow involved, a description of the detailed functional implementation of the robotic aliquoting system, and a demonstration of the application with a real world implementation of the component-based framework.

An architecture for building laboratory automation systems was developed using the component-based framework [1]. The requirements to build a flexible and adaptable automation system were exemplified through the architectural design process. Existing tools and technologies facilitated the development of this scalable architecture. Several design patterns were used to model this architecture. The influence of these patterns on systems design and the impact of Unified Modeling Language on component and interface design was explored. Integration of the system components with the peripheral components to build an automated system is discussed with emphasis on run-time configuration and component reuse.

A component-based framework is being developed which facilitates software re-use and provides faster integration of laboratory automation systems. Implementation of laboratory automation systems by the traditional approach usually takes significant development time since both module-level and application-level software are written custom to a particular application. In addition, modification and adaptation of an existing system developed by the traditional approach, to new and enhanced applications, usually requires significant reconfiguration to system software, since the modifications affect the way in which the module-level software interacts with each other. In order to reduce the development time and build flexible and easily re-configurable systems, a component-based framework is being developed that addresses the issue of software reuse and run-time configuration. This framework is based on a services based architecture and supports stateless components that can be configured at run-time. In addition, this framework supports polymorphic behavior for all its components thereby allowing for integrated substitution of hardware offering similar functions into an existing system to enhance its functionality. The basic overview and concepts of this framework in the context of laboratory automation systems is outlined in this paper.