pylabrobot
Control Lab Robots with PyLabRobot
Also available from: davila7
Automate laboratory workflows by controlling liquid handling robots, plate readers, and lab equipment through unified Python commands. This skill enables reproducible protocols across Hamilton, Tecan, and Opentrons platforms with built-in simulation for testing.
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Test it
Using "pylabrobot". Set up a PyLabRobot liquid handler to aspirate 50 microliters from well A1 and dispense to well B1
Expected outcome:
- Initialized STAR backend and STARLetDeck
- Tip rack assigned to deck position 1
- 96-well plate assigned to deck position 10
- Picked up tips from tip_rack[A1]
- Aspirated 50 µL from plate[A1] at 50 µL/s flow rate
- Dispensed 50 µL to plate[B1]
- Tips dropped at waste location
Using "pylabrobot". Create a deck with a tip rack, source plate, and destination plate for a plate replication workflow
Expected outcome:
- TIP_CAR_480_A00 defined as tip_rack at deck position 1
- Cos_96_DW_1mL defined as source plate at deck position 10
- Cos_96_DW_1mL defined as dest plate at deck position 15
- Resources assigned to deck with correct rails coordinates
- Deck layout saved to JSON for reproducibility
Security Audit
SafeDocumentation-only skill containing markdown files for PyLabRobot, an open-source laboratory automation framework. All 467 static findings are false positives triggered by Python code examples embedded in markdown documentation. No executable code exists in this skill. The patterns detected (hash references, equipment setup commands, IP addresses, code fences) are all legitimate documentation content for lab automation software.
Risk Factors
⚙️ External commands (3)
🌐 Network access (2)
⚡ Contains scripts (2)
📁 Filesystem access (1)
🔑 Env variables (1)
Quality Score
What You Can Build
Automate Pipetting Tasks
Program complex liquid transfer protocols for sample preparation, serial dilutions, and plate replication with automatic tip tracking.
Multi-Vendor Integration
Create unified protocols that work across Hamilton, Tecan, and Opentrons robots without rewriting code for each platform.
Protocol Simulation
Test and validate laboratory protocols in simulation mode before running expensive experiments on physical hardware.
Try These Prompts
Use PyLabRobot to set up a liquid handler with a STAR backend and transfer 100 microliters from source plate well A1 to destination plate well A2.
Create a deck layout in PyLabRobot with a tip rack at position 1, a source plate at position 5, and a destination plate at position 10.
Configure a BMG CLARIOstar plate reader with PyLabRobot, set temperature to 37 degrees, and read absorbance at 450nm wavelength.
Write a complete liquid handling protocol using ChatterboxBackend for simulation, then show how to visualize the deck state and verify the workflow.
Best Practices
- Start with ChatterboxBackend simulation to validate protocols before running on expensive hardware
- Enable tip tracking and volume tracking for accurate state management during experiments
- Save deck layouts to JSON files for reproducibility across multiple protocol runs
Avoid
- Running protocols on physical hardware without first testing in simulation mode
- Not setting temperatures early when using heater shakers or incubators
- Hardcoding resource positions instead of using descriptive names for better documentation
Frequently Asked Questions
What liquid handlers does PyLabRobot support?
Do I need physical hardware to test protocols?
How does PyLabRobot compare to vendor APIs?
Can I save and load deck configurations?
What plate readers are supported?
Does this skill work on Windows and Mac?
Developer Details
Author
K-Dense-AILicense
MIT license
Repository
https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/claude-scientific-skills/tree/main/scientific-skills/pylabrobotRef
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