The y-12 plant is developinf a new non-destructive laboratory with network distributed instrument control. Instrument settings can be automatically adjusted by software and automatically recorded. Analytical procedures are being fully automated so that the instruments can be operated by relatively unskilled personnel in an efficient manner.

Certainly one of the biggest challenges and needs facing the analytical laboratory of the '90s is that of integration and standardization. The US Department of Energy, through its immense environmental program, has launched a program aimed at standardizing the technologies used in the laboratory. This program, led by Los Alamos National Laboratory, has developed the concept of the standard laboratory module (SLM), which forms the building block for methods and laboratories. An SLM is a hardware and/or software module which performs a complete subtask in an analytical protocol. This paper will describe the program to date with emphasis on the SLM and illustrate its integration into methods and, ultimately, the laboratory.

The human genome effort has highlighted a huge area for potential automation that is necessary in order for the program to succeed. Much of the work in preparing maps of individual human chromosomes involves labor-intensive highly repetitive tasks. We have concentrated on automating the procedure of gridding hybridization membranes from microtiter-well plates and on developing a database for robotic control and for initial storage of hybridization results. On the basis of numerous interactions with biologists on the human genome project, we designed our gridding system to produce high-density grids on a 20- by 22-cm membrane, to require initial user interactions for setup, and, thereafter, to proceed untended with the gridding of the membrane. The software is written in the object-oriented style of the Robot Independent Programming Language (RlPL), developed by Sandia National Laboratories, to increase flexibility and maintainability. A path table in a relational database provides location information to the robotic arm and permits rapid changes in the robot movement patterns. Database tables track an individual microtiter well to its membrane location. Planned system improvements include incorporating a UNIX-based computer workstation with object-oriented database for integrating the initial colony-picking, membrane gridding and hybridized membrane film assessment into one system.

The Analytical Chemistry Group of the Los Alamos National Laboratory processes in excess of 4000 plutonium metal samples each year. Depending on what specific elements are to be determined, each sample must be cut into fractions for distribution to the various task areas for specific analyses in areas such as mass spectrometry. A unique laboratory automation system has been developed based on a commercially available Zymate II robot. The robot consists of a central arm that operates in a hollow cylindrical work envelop and has four degrees of freedom. Accessible to the arm are standard Zymark laboratory stations, which include an analytical balance, a reagent dispensing station, a capping station, and vial racks. Custom stations designed and constructed by an in-house robotics group for corrosive environments include a vial capping station, a pipette tip shucker, and a vial dispenser. Initial reliability testing is currently in progress. Copper metal samples are being used in lieu of plutonium to identify areas in which mechanical adjustments are needed or in which the software needs modification. The system is projected to be commissioned during January 1988. Future plane include the addition of capabilities to accommodate plutonium oxide samples.