Issue 4, 2025

Robotic integration for end-stations at scientific user facilities

Abstract

The integration of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) into scientific workflows is transforming experimental research, particularly at large-scale user facilities such as the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II). We present an extensible architecture for robotic sample management that combines the Robot Operating System 2 (ROS2) with the Bluesky experiment orchestration ecosystem. This approach enabled seamless integration of robotic systems into high-throughput experiments and adaptive workflows. Key innovations included a client-server model for managing robotic actions, real-time pose estimation using fiducial markers and computer vision, and closed-loop adaptive experimentation with agent-driven decision-making. Deployed using widely available hardware and open-source software, this architecture successfully automated a full shift (8 hours) of sample manipulation without errors. The system's flexibility and extensibility allow rapid re-deployment across different experimental environments, enabling scalable self-driving experiments for end stations at scientific user facilities. This work highlights the potential of robotics to enhance experimental throughput and reproducibility, providing a roadmap for future developments in automated scientific discovery where flexibility, extensibility, and adaptability are core requirements.

Graphical abstract: Robotic integration for end-stations at scientific user facilities

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Jan 2025
Accepted
17 Mar 2025
First published
20 Mar 2025
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Digital Discovery, 2025,4, 1083-1091

Robotic integration for end-stations at scientific user facilities

C. Fernando, H. Marcello, J. Wlodek, J. Sinsheimer, D. Olds, S. I. Campbell and P. M. Maffettone, Digital Discovery, 2025, 4, 1083 DOI: 10.1039/D5DD00036J

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