Universal Lab Automation
A conversation with Rick Wierenga of PyLabRobot
When we see ads from big biotech or pharma companies, often they showcase sleek labs filled with sophisticated robots precisely moving around small amounts of liquid.
These impressive lab machines come with extensive product lines that have accelerated science R&D. And, they're often expensive and tied to proprietary tech stacks. This creates barriers, especially for cash-strapped startups and bootstrapped scientists looking to innovate by mixing and matching different lab equipment, or experimenting with second-hand devices.
In this episode of Discovery Engines, I sit down with Rick Wierenga, creator of PyLabRobot, an open-source, hardware-agnostic Python SDK designed to tackle this challenge head on. What began as a spark of insight during a college biology class took an big leap forward when Rick got a surprising reply to a cold email he sent during a visit to MIT. Rick and a growing community of contributors are on a mission to remove barriers to lab automation, making it easier to “ship science.” For Rick’s journey, and insights into the growing movement behind PyLabRobot, join us for this conversation.
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Also available on:
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3BzMqiy
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/40sQCu9
Additional Show Notes
Episode Links:
Rick's Twitter https://x.com/rickwierenga
Rick's LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickwierenga/
PyLabRobot GitHub https://github.com/PyLabRobot
PyLabRobot Forum https://discuss.pylabrobot.org/
PyLabRobot Twitter https://x.com/PyLabRobot
Dana Gretton, PyHamilton https://github.com/dgretton
PyTorch https://pytorch.org/
Flow Cytometry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_cytometry
Autonomous Science Opportunity Map https://bit.ly/autonomous-science-map
Episode Chapters:
00:00 - Preview & Introduction
03:33 - Rick's Serendipitous Foray Into Lab Automation
07:00 - Why AWS for Biology
09:17 - Understanding Liquid Handling Robots
10:49 - Generic Robotics Stack
13:20 - Robot Automation With PyLabRobot
15:07 - The Community Building PyLabRobot
16:54 - Why A Big Pharma Would Support PyLabRobot
18:36 - PyTorch: An Open Source Inspiration
20:32 - Sharing Technology In A Competitive Industry
23:11 - Supported Device Ecosystem
25:49 - Surprises in Device Integration
27:54 - Reverse Engineering 101
31:26 - How Useful Are Github CoPilot, Codex, LLMS for Reverse Engineering
34:34 - How Device Manufacturers, Automation Experts, Are Reacting to PyLabRobot
39:17 - Open Source Efforts and Device Safety
41:11 - How PyLabRobot Enables Sharing Protocols, Reproducibility
45:03 - Creating a 3D Scanner From a Liquid Handler
48:49 - Supporting Self-Driving Labs
54:49 - How PyLabRobot Will Evolve
55:40 - Automating Flow Cytometry
58:17 - How To Contribute and Connect