Laboratories#

Laboratories are the space in which devices and containers exist and where tasks, experiments, and campaigns of experiments take place.

A laboratory in EOS is a collection of:

  • Locations (e.g., physical stations around the lab)

  • Computers (e.g., devices capable of controlling equipment)

  • Devices (e.g., equipment/apparatuses in the laboratory)

  • Containers (e.g., vessels for holding samples)

Contents of a laboratory

Laboratory Implementation#

  • Laboratories are implemented in the laboratories subdirectory inside an EOS package

  • Each laboratory has its own subfolder (e.g., laboratories/color_lab)

  • The laboratory is defined in a YAML file named laboratory.yml.

Below is an example laboratory YAML file for a solar cell fabrication lab:

lab.yml

type: solar_cell_fabrication_lab
description: A laboratory for fabricating and characterizing perovskite solar cells

locations:
  glovebox:
    description: Nitrogen-filled glovebox
    metadata:
        map_coordinates:
            x: 10
            y: 20
            theta: 0
  fume_hood:
    description: Fume hood for solution preparation and coating
  annealing_station:
    description: Hotplate for thermal annealing
  evaporation_chamber:
    description: Thermal evaporation chamber for electrode deposition
  characterization_room:
    description: Room for solar cell performance testing

computers:
  xrd_computer:
    description: XRD system control and data analysis
    ip: 192.168.1.101
  solar_sim_computer:
    description: Solar simulator control and J-V measurements
    ip: 192.168.1.102
  robot_computer:
    description: Mobile manipulation robot control
    ip: 192.168.1.103

devices:
  spin_coater:
    description: Spin coater for depositing perovskite and transport layers
    type: spin_coater
    location: glovebox
    computer: eos_computer

  uv_ozone_cleaner:
    description: UV-Ozone cleaner for substrate treatment
    type: uv_ozone_cleaner
    location: fume_hood
    computer: eos_computer

  thermal_evaporator:
    description: Thermal evaporator for metal electrode deposition
    type: thermal_evaporator
    location: evaporation_chamber
    computer: eos_computer
    initialization_parameters:
      max_temperature: 1000C
      materials: [Au, Ag, Al]

  solar_simulator:
    description: Solar simulator for J-V curve measurements
    type: solar_simulator
    location: characterization_room
    computer: solar_sim_computer
    initialization_parameters:
      spectrum: AM1.5G
      intensity: 100mW/cm2

  xrd_system:
    description: X-ray diffractometer for crystal structure analysis
    type: xrd
    location: characterization_room
    computer: xrd_computer

  mobile_robot:
    description: Mobile manipulation robot for automated sample transfer
    type: mobile_robot
    location: characterization_room
    computer: robot_computer
    initialization_parameters:
      locations:
        - glovebox
        - fume_hood
        - annealing_station
        - evaporation_chamber
        - characterization_room

containers:
  - type: vial
    location: glovebox
    metadata:
      solvent: 20 #ml
    ids:
      - precursor_vial_1
      - precursor_vial_2
      - precursor_vial_3

  - type: petri_dish
    location: glovebox
    metadata:
      capacity: 100 #ml
    ids:
      - substrate_dish_1
      - substrate_dish_2

  - type: crucible
    location: evaporation_chamber
    metadata:
      capacity: 5 #ml
    ids:
      - au_crucible
      - ag_crucible

Locations (Optional)#

Locations are physical stations around the lab where devices and containers are placed. They are defined in the locations section of the laboratory YAML file. You can define metadata for each location, such as map coordinates for a mobile robot. Defining locations is optional.

locations:
  glovebox:
    description: Nitrogen-filled glovebox
    metadata:
        map_coordinates:
            x: 10
            y: 20
            theta: 0
  fume_hood:
    description: Fume hood for solution preparation and coating
  annealing_station:
    description: Hotplate for thermal annealing
  evaporation_chamber:
    description: Thermal evaporation chamber for electrode deposition
  characterization_room:
    description: Room for solar cell performance testing

Computers (Optional)#

Computers control devices and host EOS devices. Each computer that is required to interface with one or more devices must be defined in this section. The IP address of each computer must be specified.

There is always a computer in each lab called eos_computer that has the IP “127.0.0.1”. This computer is the computer that runs the EOS orchestrator, and can be thought of as the “central” computer. No other computer named “eos_computer” is allowed, and no other computer can have the IP “127.0.0.1”. The “computers” section need not be defined unless additional computers are required (e.g., if not all devices are connected to eos_computer).

EOS computers 
computers:
  xrd_computer:
    description: XRD system control and data analysis
    ip: 192.168.1.101
  solar_sim_computer:
    description: Solar simulator control and J-V measurements
    ip: 192.168.1.102
  robot_computer:
    description: Mobile manipulation robot control
    ip: 192.168.1.103

Devices (Required)#

Devices are equipment or apparatuses in the laboratory that are required to perform tasks. Each device must have a unique name inside the lab and must be defined in the devices section of the laboratory YAML file.

devices:
  spin_coater:
    description: Spin coater for depositing perovskite and transport layers
    type: spin_coater
    location: glovebox
    computer: eos_computer

  uv_ozone_cleaner:
    description: UV-Ozone cleaner for substrate treatment
    type: uv_ozone_cleaner
    location: fume_hood
    computer: eos_computer

  thermal_evaporator:
    description: Thermal evaporator for metal electrode deposition
    type: thermal_evaporator
    location: evaporation_chamber
    computer: eos_computer
    initialization_parameters:
      max_temperature: 1000C
      materials: [Au, Ag, Al]

type: Every device must have a type, which matches a device specification (e.g., defined in the devices subdirectory of an EOS package). There can be multiple devices with different names of the same type.

location (optional): The location where the device is at.

computer: The computer that controls the device. If not “eos_computer”, the computer must be defined in the “computers” section.

initialization_parameters (optional): Parameters required to initialize the device. These parameters are defined in the device specification and can be overridden here.

Containers (Optional)#

Containers are vessels for holding samples and are how samples go around the lab (e.g., for batch processing). They are defined in the containers section of the laboratory YAML file.

containers:
  - type: vial
    location: glovebox
    metadata:
      capacity: 20 #ml
    ids:
      - precursor_vial_1
      - precursor_vial_2
      - precursor_vial_3

  - type: petri_dish
    location: glovebox
    metadata:
      capacity: 100 #ml
    ids:
      - substrate_dish_1
      - substrate_dish_2

  - type: crucible
    location: evaporation_chamber
    metadata:
      capacity: 5 #ml
    ids:
      - au_crucible
      - ag_crucible

type: Every container must have a type, which can be used to group together containers of the same type.

location (optional): The location where the container starts out at.

metadata (optional): Any additional information about the container, such as its capacity or contained sample.

ids: A list of unique identifiers for each container. These are used to identify and refer to specific containers.

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