Open-Source Frameworks for Low-Cost Laboratory Automation: A Literature Review of Hardware, Control Software, and Data Infrastructure
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63282/3117-5481/AIJCST-V5I6P107Keywords:
Open-Source Hardware, Laboratory Automation, 3D Printing, Liquid Handling Robots, Calibration, Electronic Lab Notebook, Literature ReviewAbstract
Commercial laboratory automation systems still are a major cost barrier for many academic laboratories. Over the last decade or so, a peer-reviewed literature has emerged on open source alternatives at three levels: low-cost, often 3D-printed, hardware; open control and orchestration software; and open data infrastructure for recording experimental activity. This paper is a literature review, not a primary field survey: it synthesises what has actually been published about open-source laboratory automation platforms, drawing only from peer-reviewed articles, preprints, and project documentation reporting concrete design details, measured performance, or documented deployment experience. It does not offer new empirical survey data or site-based statistics. The review covers open-source liquid-handling and general-purpose 3D-printed hardware, hardware-agnostic and orchestration control software, the SiLA2 interoperability standard, and open electronic-lab-notebook and data-management tools, reporting the cost, precision, and adoption details each source actually documents. The review closes by identifying gaps that the existing literature leaves open — most notably, the near-absence of multi-site field-reliability data comparable to what exists for commercial instrumentation — and outlines what a rigorously conducted primary study in this area would need to include.
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