Labs generate massive amounts of experiment and operational data. But are you equipped to handle it, and are you using it to advance lab automation strategies?
Successful and sustainable lab automation is nearly impossible without data science. Data science techniques help scientists, researchers, and digital transformation specialists to automate lab processes, increasing efficiency, safety, and reproducibility in the process.
In this blog, we’ll explore how data science progresses lab automation, and how Lumi can help you manage your lab data – whether you’re a scientist in academia or within the life sciences industry.
Streamlined Data Collection
Data collection is fundamental to lab automation, forming the foundation of the lab of the future. Lab automation involves collecting and extracting data from live experiments, instruments, sensors, and other data sources. The data you capture might include text or numerical measurements, and liquid or state changes.
Computer vision technology can accelerate and automate the process of collecting data from different sources. To ensure operational efficiency, algorithms can also be developed to store big data in a structured format.
Intelligent Data Analysis
Data science can also be used to analyse large data sets and identify patterns or anomalies. Equipped with new insights, scientists can optimise experiments and improve the accuracy, precision and reproducibility of results. With the ability to access and analyse data quickly, scientists can increase efficiency, save time and reach discoveries quicker.
Once data analysis begins, the lab has already started its journey towards enabling intelligent process improvements, and the true expression of lab automation.
Enable Machine Learning
Machine learning algorithms can be used to analyse large volumes of data generated through lab automation. These algorithms can learn from the data with agility and make predictions based on patterns in the data. This helps to identify potential issues, give scientists a clear route ahead and improve the efficiency of lab processes in the long-term.
Power Process Optimisation
Data science can be used to optimise lab processes by analysing data and identifying areas where improvements can be made. Process optimisation will help reduce errors, increase efficiency, and improve overall lab productivity. Both manual and robotic technologies can be monitored and optimised in this way, to help remove mundane work and mundane knowledge work.
Access Predictive Maintenance
Lab equipment requires regular maintenance to ensure accurate and reliable results. This is prevalent as more robotics enter the lab, which may still require monitoring and continuous maintenance as they might not be fully integrated with lab infrastructures.
Unlocking data intelligence can also predict when maintenance is needed, minimising downtime and extending equipment lifespan.
How can Lumi help you on your journey to lab automation…
Given the large volume of data being produced, laboratories need to have a digital infrastructure in place to manage it. Data gathered from automated and manual workflows needs to be appropriately captured, annotated, and stored. Digital tools can be used to centralise and manage all the data from instruments, samples, inventory as well as end-to-end workflows.
Lumi is filling the data gap that currently exists for businesses and academic scientists. Our platform provides an extra pair of eyes in the lab, automatically capturing operational and experiment data using frontier AI, increasing efficiency and enabling faster scientific progress.
By centralising data and making it accessible in real-time, Lumi also eliminates data silos between teams or departments and expedites knowledge sharing. This stored data can then be retrieved in the future to power lab automation, and all the data science techniques we’ve discussed in this blog.
Through computer vision, voice, and Machine Learning, Lumi ultimately takes away the pain of recording and analysing operational data. Want to know more about the benefits of adopting Lumi as an automation solution for your lab? Get in touch today to find out more or to book a demo.