Instrument flexibility, automated

Automatic devices perform specific operations at a given point in an analysis, frequently the measurement step."65 The main characteristics of automation are objectivity, rapidity, flexibility, and reliability of the analytical instruments. With automation, the objectivity level increases. The reproducibility of the analytical information increases because analyst errors are eliminated. 

When is it really recommend able to use a robot station in the laboratory This question is very important in considering the renewal of laboratory instrumentation and when changing the working philosophy, as it involves quite a different concept. Adressing such a compromising question requires A distinction to be made between flexible automation, characterized by its great versatility and adaptability to different situations and needs, and dedicated automation, namely the design of a specific system for a particular application. 

It is not very meaningful to search for the ultimate control scheme for a particular process. The magnitude and nature of disturbances, the frequency of changes and the way the process is operated (for example at maximum load or maximum efficiency), the flexibility of the plant and the knowledge of operating and maintenance personnel all play a cracial role in the control scheme selection process. It is very well possible, that a particular process is heavily instrumented and automated in one plant and is hardly automated in another plant. It is therefore reconunended to review the control scheme after the plant has come online and make changes in the control scheme if reqnired (this can easily be done with modem instrumentation systems). 

Thurston CG. LIMS/instrument integration computing architecture for improved automation and flexibility. Am Lab 2004 Sep. 15-19. 

For systems that do not offer online HIAR, these procedures must be performed manually or off-line prior to loading slides on the instrument. Online HIAR methods are usually found as part of the closed-type automated staining systems, and are therefore less flexible in terms of what a technician can do to change the HIAR portion of a staining protocol to help optimize staining for particularly difficult antibodies. In spite of this, the ability to perform online HIAR is advantageous for many antibodies because it is extremely consistent and frees up technician time to complete other laboratory tasks. 

There is no doubt that further improvements in computing power will provide significant changes in laboratory automation. Access to computing power wiU make individual instrumental modules more flexible and able to meet changing needs rapidly. 

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) utilizes the unique properties of supercritical fluids to facilitate the extraction of organics from solid samples. Analytical scale SFE can be configured to operate on- or off-line. In the online configuration, SFE is coupled directly to an analytical instrument, such as a gas chromatograph, SFC, or high-performance liquid chromatograph. This offers the potential for automation, but the extract is limited to analysis by the dedicated instrument. Off-line SFE, as its name implies, is a stand-alone extraction method independent of the analytical technique to be used. Off-line SFE is more flexible and easier to perform than the online methods. It allows the analyst to focus on the extraction per se, and the extract is available for analysis by different methods. This chapter focuses on off-line SFE. 

Laboratory automation doesn t begin when the first computer is planned or delivered. Limits on your flexibility in lab automation began to appear the day you ordered your first piece of lab equipment. Thinking about lab automation should occur when you purchase instruments. How can they be interfaced Are there data systems for them Are those systems compatible with a range of computer systems or have you (knowingly or not) locked yourself into a particular approach ... 

Instrument automation may be required to provide us with more powerful techniques of data analysis and data handling using statistical techniques that would be otherwise too time consuming to be practical or computer graphics to gain greater flexibility in data analysis. Small data base systems of spectral libraries can help address a problem of faster component identification. 

Three approaches to the automation process can be distinguished, taking into account the criterion of the flexibility of the automation device [2], The first, denoted as flexible, is characterized by the possibility of adaptation of the instruments to new and varying demands required from the laboratory examples of these instruments are robots. The second approach, denoted as semiflexible, involves some restrictions for the tasks executed by the instrument the tasks are controlled by a computer program and its menu. As examples, autosamplers or robots of limited moves can be given. In the third approach, the instruments can execute one or two tasks, without feasibility of new requirements as examples, supercritical fluid extractors or equipment for dissolution of samples can be given. 

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