A closed-loop self-driving laboratory integrating automated liquid handling, robotic sample transfer, confocal microscopy, plate-reader readouts, image analysis, and active learning. The system formulates micron-scale soft-matter systems, characterises them, and decides the next experiment, autonomously and overnight. Used for coacervates, synthetic condensates, protocell-inspired systems, and other multicomponent soft materials where formulation spaces are too complex to explore by hand.
Built around Confocal.nl’s NL5+ point-scanning confocal, running on Micro-Manager, the open-source Fiji/ImageJ-based microscope control software — letting the microscope step into the active-learning loop alongside the robotics.
Capabilities
- Closed-loop campaigns running for extended periods with minimal intervention
- Automated liquid handling for formulation
- Robotic sample transfer between stations
- Confocal microscopy and plate-reader readouts
- Real-time image analysis driving the next decision
- Active learning over droplet size, particle density, stability, cargo loading, viscosity
Located at
RobotLab, ICMS / TU/e (Ceres).
What is coming
Connect more tightly to advanced characterisation, smart microscopy, and the AI core; let image analysis directly guide the microscope; multi-property optimisation in a single closed-loop campaign.
Questions or training? Ask the super-user
For general facility access or new project scoping, contact superresolution@tue.nl.