Optimization of robotic liquid handling as a capacitated vehicle routing problem.

ABSTRACT: We present an optimization strategy to reduce the execution time of liquid handling operations in the context of an automated chemical laboratory. By formulating the task as a capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP), we leverage heuristic solvers traditionally used in logistics and transportation planning to optimize task execution times. As exemplified using an 8-channel pipette with individually controllable tips, our approach demonstrates robust optimization performance across different labware formats (e.g., well-plates, vial holders), achieving up to a 37% reduction in execution time for randomly generated tasks compared to the baseline sorting method. We further apply the method to a real-world high-throughput materials discovery campaign and observe that 3 minutes of optim

SUBMITTER: Wu G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12360158 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature