This robot scientist conducts experiments by itself | Artificial Intelligence and Robotics - World Economic Forum

• An intelligent robot that works independently 21.5 hours a day is helping scientists at the University of Liverpool with their research.
• Using AI, a flexible arm and a customised gripper, it could speed up scientific discovery and give researchers more time to think creatively.
• The robot has the potential to tackle problems that are currently too time-consuming for humans to explore.

---

Rosamond Hutt, Senior Writer at Formative Content writes, Scientists at the University of Liverpool have a new lab assistant with a very strong work ethic: a robot chemist that conducts experiments by itself.

The robot scientist works 21.5 hours a day, seven days a week.
Photo: University of Liverpool

The 1.75-metre-tall intelligent robot moves around the laboratory, avoiding human co-workers and obstacles while performing a wide range of different tasks independently.
It can even decide for itself which tests to do next based on previous results.

And it could make scientific discoveries “a thousand times faster”...

“Our strategy here was to automate the researcher, rather than the instruments,” said Professor Andrew Cooper from the university’s Department of Chemistry and Materials Innovation Factory, who led the project.
“This creates a level of flexibility that will change both the way we work and the problems we can tackle. This is not just another machine in the lab: it’s a new superpowered team member, and it frees up time for the human researchers to think creatively.”

PhD student Benjamin Burger, who built and programmed the robot, said the biggest challenge was to make the system robust.
Read more... 

Source: World Economic Forum