Rick Wierenga is creator of PyLabRobot, an open-source, hardware-agnostic Python SDK that's lowering the barriers to lab automation for scientists, startups and hackers.

See below for episode links, chapters, and our socials. Hosted by Nabil Laoudji.

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Episode Links:

• Rick's Twitter
• Rick's LinkedIn
• PyLabRobot GitHub
• PyLabRobot Forum
• PyLabRobot Twitter
• Dana Gretton, PyHamilton
• PyTorch
• Flow Cytometry

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

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