Laboratory 4.0: The cognitive approach

In everyday life 90% of all tasks wet laboratories worldwide are repetitive manual tasks, short documentation fragments and manual inventory management. No integrated IT systems as well as seamless robotic solutions support the worker. Data integration like fieldbus or standardized exchange formats still does not exist. In the last decade several attempts for developing „Laboratory 4.0“ were taken. Always robotic solutions and automation were in focus. All suggested solutions were technology-centric. We introduce the cognitive laboratory. It assists the worker for integration by the user’s perspective. The cognitive laboratory becomes context aware. It can hear and see. The cognitive laboratory implements the strategy of an artificial intelligence platform for wet laboratories. The system has a picture of the situation, means the system has all properties tracked and cached and so available just in time. We call it „identity“. If a situation is unclear the system is asking questions. It is designed to be multiuser capable (each worker has is ‚personal‘ assistant) as well it has shared resources to access common tasks. Work safety is significantly improved and the logistics of the basic substances, glassware and chemicals are simplified. The system uses voice commands, visual analysis, augmented reality and has IT back office integration