Custom Laboratory Automation Systems and Research Equipment

Custom laboratory automation systems for materials research are purpose-built machines that load, move, identify and track solid specimens at a laboratory's test frames, furnaces and vacuum chambers; AMD Machines designs, builds and integrates them with fixtures, controls and documentation.

AMD Machines designs research laboratory automation for university and national-laboratory research groups, shared research facilities, and industrial materials R&D and test laboratories. What to send for a laboratory automation quote lists every input, including the export-control limits to read before sending any files.

On this page, a sample is a solid specimen, coupon, machined part or piece of material: the kind of sample that materials science, metallurgy, mechanical testing, thermal processing, nanofabrication and vacuum research work with.

What can AMD Machines automate in a research laboratory?

AMD Machines automates four research laboratory workflows: specimen loading at materials test frames, furnace and heat-treatment handling, sample movement between stations, and vacuum-system controls with sample transfer. Each is usually engineered around instruments the laboratory already owns.

For materials testing, AMD Machines scopes robotic specimen loading after reviewing the exact test-frame configuration and its interfaces, and the frame keeps performing its specified testing and measurement functions. Materials testing automation covers grip actuation, extensometer access, broken specimens, fatigue and elevated-temperature configurations, and automation around an existing MTS test system; naming a test-frame manufacturer implies no partnership with it and no authorization from it.

For furnace and heat-treatment work, AMD Machines engineers staging, loading, quench transfer and recovery around the laboratory's own procedure: recipes, temperatures, dwell and transfer limits and quench requirements are reviewed as requirements, not promised as standard performance. Heat treatment automation and robotic furnace loading covers furnace door access, hot samples and furnace-to-quench transfer.

Sample movement between trays, conditioning positions, instruments and storage can be the first laboratory operation worth automating on its own; its trays, grippers, presence checks and identification are covered under which solid samples a laboratory robot can handle.

For vacuum work, AMD Machines settles two scope questions first: whether the vacuum is a suction gripper's or a process chamber's, and whether the robot works outside the chamber or a mechanism must work inside it. Vacuum system automation covers both, along with pump-down and vent sequences and interlocks.

Which automation projects fall outside research laboratory automation?

Production testing, plastics joining, plant-scale material flow, CNC machine tending and upgrades of older automation fall outside research laboratory automation and are separate AMD Machines services:

• Production leak, functional and end-of-line testing: test systems.
• Ultrasonic, hot-plate and vibration joining of plastics: thermal processing, which is not metal heat treatment.
• Conveyors and plant-scale material flow: material handling.
• Robotic tending of production CNC machines: machine tending.
• Upgrades to an older robot cell, an obsolete PLC or a safety system: upgrades and retrofits.

What custom experimental equipment does AMD Machines build for laboratories?

AMD Machines designs and builds custom experimental equipment for research laboratories, from the fixtures, carriers and instrument adapters an automated workflow depends on to stand-alone laboratory test stands and experiment rigs. The parts AMD Machines designs and builds include metal and plastic sample holders, specimen nests, instrument adapters, positioning fixtures, custom grippers, tray and carrier assemblies, replacement parts and repeat spare kits, and a part can start from a CAD model, a 2D drawing or an approved reference sample. A nest that holds every specimen geometry the same way is part of the automation, not an accessory to it. Custom laboratory parts and research fixtures explains what to send for a drawing, an approved sample or a functional requirement.

For a university or national-laboratory group whose campus instrument shop makes one-off parts but not controls, PLC programming or robot integration, AMD Machines provides both the research equipment and the automation, controls and safety engineering around it, from one engineering team, so a part and the automation it serves are designed together.

Components in alumina, MACOR® machinable glass ceramic, tungsten or molybdenum can be submitted for review; AMD Machines confirms whether it can quote each part only after reviewing its exact grade, geometry and service conditions.

Should a laboratory automate one step, integrate an instrument, or coordinate a whole workflow?

A research laboratory automation project should start with the smallest of three scopes that solves the laboratory's present problem: one repetitive operation, one existing instrument, or several coordinated stations under one controller. AMD Machines names the scope with the laboratory early, because it sets the quote, the schedule and the acceptance test, and can lay out a smaller scope so that coordinated stations remain possible.

One repetitive operation is task-targeted automation with few connections to anything else, so it is the quickest scope to define and prove. One existing instrument becomes part of a robotic workcell, and the engineering work is the instrument interface review.

Several coordinated stations form a multi-station cell with one supervisory controller that tracks each sample, manages queues and decides what happens when a station is busy or offline. In AMD Machines robotic cells, the PLC serves as the cell master, coordinating robot motion, safety systems, vision triggers, and I/O. AMD Machines typically standardizes on Allen-Bradley (ControlLogix, CompactLogix) for North American projects and also works with Siemens, Omron, Beckhoff and B&R platforms when an institution has its own standard.

The business case for any scope rests on researcher and technician hours returned to research, runs that continue unattended and consistent specimen handling; the ROI of robotic automation guide sets out the general model.

Can AMD Machines automate the instruments your laboratory already owns?

Yes, after an interface review: AMD Machines engineers robotic handling and controls around test frames, furnaces, pumps, vacuum chambers and other instruments a laboratory already owns, and for furnace or vacuum work can instead quote a specifically defined integrated system when the laboratory wants one supplier for the whole system. The instrument keeps its own measurement, control and safety functions, while the automation presents and removes samples and exchanges signals with it.

What does a laboratory instrument interface review cover?

A laboratory instrument interface review is how scientific instrument automation starts: it establishes what the automation can connect to and what has to be added. For each instrument, AMD Machines engineers review:

• Access: how the door or enclosure opens, and how the instrument must be approached.
• Clamping: how grips or clamps are actuated, and whether that actuation can be commanded.
• Status: which ready, running, complete and fault states are available, and in what form, such as discrete I/O, an industrial network (EtherNet/IP, PROFINET or Modbus TCP), OPC UA, a serial link or the instrument's documented remote interface. None is assumed until the review confirms it.
• Start: whether the instrument's software accepts an external start.
• Data: what results the instrument exports, and in what format.

AMD Machines builds and tests the interface on the controller and software versions recorded in the scope, so any later update to the instrument's software or firmware should be reviewed before it is installed: it can change the signals or files the automation relies on.

How does a robot know a test or furnace cycle is finished and safe to unload?

A laboratory robot knows a cycle is finished when the instrument reports a complete state through its interface, and it unloads only once the cell's interlocks confirm the approach is clear, for example that the door or enclosure is open and no fault is active. AMD Machines agrees these conditions for each instrument during the interface review, and acceptance testing exercises them. Where an instrument exposes no usable status signal or actuator, the review either names an added device or keeps that step manual.

Who is responsible for calibration, service and warranty once a robot is added?

AMD Machines is responsible for the automation it supplies, while calibration and service of the instrument stay with its owner and the instrument's manufacturer or service provider. The agreed scope sets out the split item by item:

If the review shows the instrument needs an added device, such as an automation interface option, actuated grips, a door actuator or actuated valves, that device is chosen with you and, where it changes the instrument, with its manufacturer or accessory supplier, including any effect on the instrument's warranty or service agreement; the agreed scope states who supplies it.

How do identification, handling, testing and data fit together in laboratory automation?

Robotic lab automation, whatever the instrument, combines up to four functions: identifying each sample, handling it, letting the laboratory's instrument process or test it, and associating the instrument's data with the sample's identity. A sorting cell may only identify and handle, while a coordinated multi-station cell uses all four across its stations.

Which solid samples can a laboratory robot handle?

A laboratory robot can handle solid samples whose geometry, mass, temperature and condition are known and repeat within limits a gripper and nest can accommodate. Common types are flat coupons and sheet specimens, round and threaded-end specimens, small cast, forged, pressed or sintered pieces, samples in a crucible, boat or carrier, and brittle ceramic or glass samples.

Sample handling decides whether a laboratory cell can run unattended: a gripper that cannot hold every geometry, a tray that can be loaded backward, or a code that cannot be read after a furnace cycle stops a run as surely as an instrument fault. AMD Machines reviews each sample type with the laboratory before the handling is designed:

• Geometry: whether it changes between batches, and by how much.
• Surfaces: which surfaces must not be touched or marked.
• Mass and size: how the sample can be gripped without damage; for brittle samples, contact force and contact location matter.
• Temperature: the sample's temperature when it is picked up.
• Change during the process: whether the sample may fracture into two or more pieces, oxidize, shrink or come out hot.

When these properties do not repeat within workable limits, the workflow can keep a manual step and automate the rest.

How do trays and carriers present samples to a laboratory robot?

A tray or carrier presents each sample at a known position, so the laboratory robot picks it without searching for it. AMD Machines reviews five design points:

• Nests: one nest per geometry, or an adjustable nest.
• Keying: so a tray cannot be loaded rotated or backward.
• Position numbering: so each nest maps to a sample identity.
• Carrier material: suited to the temperature and cleanliness of every station the carrier visits.
• Transfer: whether samples travel through a furnace or chamber in the carrier or are transferred out of it.

Which grippers and end-of-arm tooling suit laboratory specimens?

Each laboratory specimen geometry and condition needs a matched gripper: fingers with custom jaws for machined specimens, compliant contact for brittle samples, forks or tongs for carriers, and suction cups for flat parts with a suitable surface. AMD Machines designs the gripper with the cell, and designs EOAT in-house using Schunk PGN-plus pneumatic grippers, custom vacuum tooling with Piab vacuum generators, and servo-electric grippers from Zimmer for force-sensitive applications.

When a cell handles several geometries, a tool changer or a multi-position gripper avoids a compromise jaw. Grippers that handle hot samples need heat-tolerant fingers and a defined exposure limit, which belongs to the heat-treatment review.

How does a laboratory cell confirm a sample is present and oriented?

An AMD Machines laboratory cell confirms that a sample is present with checks at its handoffs, and uses machine vision inspection to check orientation and read codes where geometry or position varies. Presence checks prevent two basic handling faults: placing a sample where one already sits, and closing a gripper on nothing. Typical checks confirm that a sample is present in its nest, held in the gripper (by jaw position or a sensor), gone from the pick position after the pick, and present at the instrument before the instrument is told to start.

How does a laboratory cell keep each specimen's identity from loading to the record?

AMD Machines keeps each specimen's identity through a laboratory cell by reading a code or tag on the specimen, its tray or its carrier, or verifying an operator-entered ID, before the sample moves, then recording every position the sample occupies and linking that record to the results each instrument makes available. In a laboratory cell, the typical response agreed at design is that a sample is not processed without an identity.

Where should a specimen's identity live: on the specimen, the carrier, or both?

A specimen's identity lives on the specimen when a mark survives every process step without affecting the test, and on its tray or carrier when it does not. The four common methods compare as follows:

AMD Machines designs traceability systems with inline verification of the mark, using readers such as Cognex DataMan and Keyence SR-2000. A test that ends in fracture can leave two or more pieces with one identity, so every piece goes to a position that keeps that identity, such as a numbered bin or tray position, and the record and the physical pieces still match. For the marking station itself, see part marking and traceability systems; for traceability across a whole operation, see marking and traceability solutions.

Does a laboratory automation cell need a LIMS?

No, not for linking specimen IDs to instrument results: a laboratory automation cell does not need a laboratory information management system (LIMS) for that. The automation records which specimen was at which station, when, and under which program or batch, links that record to the status signals, result files, software exports or database entries each instrument makes available, and AMD Machines delivers it as a file, as a database table or through another interface agreed in the proposal.

Data association is a defined integration scope, not an open-ended software promise: what can be linked depends on what each instrument exposes, so AMD Machines reviews the outputs of every instrument and writes the data scope into the proposal. Connectivity options on AMD Machines systems include OPC UA, MQTT, REST API interfaces and direct database writes (SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL).

AMD Machines does not supply a LIMS, an electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) or an autonomous research platform; a direct connection to your laboratory's own LIMS or ELN is reviewed with its administrators and, where feasible, written into the integration scope. For test frames, the materials testing automation page explains how specimen identities are linked to test results.

What happens when a laboratory robot drops a sample or a batch is interrupted?

When a laboratory robot drops a sample, a code is unreadable, a specimen breaks or a batch is interrupted, the cell follows a response that AMD Machines and the laboratory agreed before the build, and acceptance testing exercises each case. Exceptions are designed in, not discovered at site acceptance. Typical responses agreed at design:

• Unreadable or missing code: retry the read, then move the sample to a hold position and record the event.
• Empty or occupied nest: stop that move and flag the position, so a sample is never placed on top of another.
• Failed pick or dropped sample: gripper sensing detects it, and the cell stops the affected sequence and calls an operator.
• Wrong orientation or geometry: reject the sample to a hold position before it reaches the instrument.
• Instrument not ready or reporting a fault: hold a sample waiting to load, or route it to another station when the scope includes one; a fault during a cycle follows its agreed recovery path.
• Broken specimen or unexpected condition: follow a defined recovery path and keep every piece with its identity.
• Interrupted batch (power loss, emergency stop, a guard door opened): restart from a known state, with each sample's last confirmed position and status recorded, so the batch can be resumed or closed out without guessing.

Instrument-specific responses, for a broken specimen at a test frame, a hot load in a furnace cell or an interrupted pump-down, are covered on the materials testing automation, heat treatment automation and vacuum system automation pages.

How is a laboratory robot made safe around researchers?

A laboratory robot is made safe through a risk assessment of the whole robot application, which decides between a cobot working beside researchers and an industrial robot inside interlocked guarding. AMD Machines starts that assessment during concept design, because research laboratories often have people working beside the equipment.

Does a laboratory robot need guarding, or can a cobot work beside researchers?

Either a cobot or a guarded industrial robot can be right in a research laboratory, and the risk assessment decides. AMD Machines integrates FANUC CRX, Universal Robots UR10 and UR20, Yaskawa HC, and Doosan cobots when the floor plan, part weight, and risk assessment support it; a collaborative application still needs its own risk assessment. When payload, speed, or a hot or sharp sample rules a cobot out, the industrial robot is guarded as in AMD Machines guarded robotic cells.

Where researchers also use an instrument by hand, the AMD Machines risk assessment defines where the robot parks, who may switch between manual and automatic use, and how the cell confirms which positions hold samples before it restarts.

Which US safety rules apply to a robot in a research laboratory?

In the US, a laboratory robot is covered by general workplace safety rules rather than a robot-specific OSHA standard, and the robot application is risk-assessed against ANSI/A3 R15.06-2025, the US robot safety standard. Where OSHA applies, the employer's obligations come from general industry rules such as machine guarding (29 CFR 1910.212) and the control of hazardous energy (29 CFR 1910.147). Public universities may be covered by a state plan instead, and contractors at DOE laboratories follow 10 CFR 851, which requires compliance with the OSHA general industry standards in 29 CFR 1910.

ANSI/A3 R15.06-2025 adopts ISO 10218-1:2025 and ISO 10218-2:2025; ISO 10218-2:2025 covers industrial robot applications and robot cells. AMD Machines builds control panels to your specified UL 508A requirements and machine electrical systems to your specified NFPA 79 requirements, and delivers complete safety documentation packages with every system: risk assessments, safety circuit drawings, verification test records, and operator training materials. The robot safety standards guide explains risk assessment and collaborative operation in more depth.

What should you send to get a quote for a laboratory automation system?

To quote a laboratory automation system, AMD Machines needs a description of your specimens, the make, model, controller and software version of each instrument, the steps a person performs today, the throughput you need and your acceptance criteria; the table below lists every input. For a system, the first step is a feasibility assessment and budgetary quote, at no cost, and AMD Machines engineers review requests sent through the laboratory automation quote request form.

Before you send files: AMD Machines is currently not compliant with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). It cannot currently accept projects involving defense articles on the US Munitions List (USML), ITAR-controlled technical data, defense services as defined under ITAR, projects requiring US person access restrictions, or any work subject to export control regulations under 22 CFR Parts 120 through 130. No email address, form or file upload on this website, including the contact form, is approved for ITAR-controlled information. Do not send ITAR-controlled or other export-controlled drawings, models, photos or data through any of them. If a project may involve ITAR-controlled information, first tell us only that it may be ITAR sensitive, as the AMD Machines ITAR notice explains, and send nothing until we confirm in writing how it is to be handled.

For a custom part, AMD Machines starts with a review of the drawing, material and quantity: send the drawing with its revision or an approved reference sample, the exact material grade, the quantity, the critical dimensions and the operating environment.

How much does laboratory automation cost, and how long does it take?

The price of a laboratory automation project is set in its AMD Machines proposal once the instruments, samples and acceptance criteria are defined, and for a system the first step is a feasibility assessment and budgetary quote at no cost. AMD Machines delivers simple machines in as little as 6 weeks and complex systems in 24–26 weeks, vs. 40–42 weeks typical for overseas builders. These lead times are for machines and systems, not for individual parts or fixtures. For a general cost reference, AMD Machines publishes budgetary ranges for custom automation by system type.

Cost and lead time both follow from the project's scope. The decisions that move them most are:

• Instruments: each is its own interface review and acceptance test, and a missing status signal, manual grips or a manual door can mean an added device.
• Sample geometries: each new geometry usually needs its own nest and gripper fingers, or a tool changer.
• Identification and data scope: what is recorded, where the record goes, and any IT or cybersecurity approval it needs.
• Guarding approach: a cobot area or a fenced cell, decided by the risk assessment.
• Special conditions: hot samples need heat-tolerant fingers; vacuum transfer adds valve, pump-state and interlock sequencing.
• Documentation and acceptance: formats, drawing standards, asset records and acceptance criteria stated at quoting.

The guide to custom automation lead times explains what drives each lead-time range.

What does a laboratory automation project deliver?

A laboratory automation project from AMD Machines delivers a complete, documented system: mechanical design, tooling, controls, documentation, agreed factory and site acceptance tests, installation, training and support.

• Mechanical design. Mechanical, controls, and safety engineering under one roof. Full 3D CAD of your cell, cycle-time simulation, and design reviews with your team before anything is cut.
• Tooling. Grippers, nests, trays, carriers, fixtures and instrument adapters designed for your samples and instruments.
• Controls. PLC and HMI programming, safety circuits, and the signal and data interfaces to each instrument in the agreed scope.
• Documentation. Every machine ships with full documentation: mechanical drawings, electrical schematics, PLC program documentation, spare parts lists, and maintenance procedures. AMD Machines includes recommended spare parts lists and criticality assessments with every system it builds, and custom-machined parts are fully documented with drawings so any competent machine shop can reproduce them. Your institution's own requirements for document formats, drawing standards or asset records become part of the agreed scope when stated at quoting.
• Agreed factory and site acceptance. Every project includes a formal FAT at the AMD Machines facility in Querétaro, Mexico, and SAT at yours, with agreed-upon acceptance criteria documented in the purchase order.
• Installation, training and support. Installation, commissioning, and hands-on training for your operators and maintenance staff (on-site training for new equipment installations is included with most AMD Machines system purchases), then remote support over a secure VPN connection where your IT policy allows, and spare parts. See maintenance and support and operator and maintenance training.
• Project visibility. Every project runs on a shared Smartsheet plan: you see the same live schedule, milestones, and open items AMD Machines engineers do, from kickoff to acceptance.

The guides on documentation requirements for automation systems and spare parts strategy for automation equipment explain what to ask for in each.

How do factory testing and final onsite integration differ?

The factory acceptance test (FAT) happens at AMD Machines' facility in Querétaro, Mexico, before shipment, and the site acceptance test (SAT) happens in your laboratory after installation; both are run against acceptance criteria agreed in advance. You can attend the FAT, which proves the handling, identification, exception responses and controls with your representative samples. When an instrument stays in your laboratory, the FAT is defined around what can be proven without it, such as signals exercised against a simulated interface, and the remaining items move to site acceptance.

For the SAT, AMD Machines handles rigging, positioning, utility connections, and commissioning at your facility, connects the system to your instruments, and proves the agreed criteria with your samples and your staff, followed by training. The guide to how custom automated machines are designed describes both phases.

Who builds custom laboratory automation systems for materials research labs?

AMD Machines (Advanced Manufacturing Development LLC) is a laboratory automation integrator and machine builder whose custom laboratory automation systems are designed for university, national-laboratory and industrial materials research groups.

AMD Machines designs and builds custom automation and robotic systems: founded in 1996, 30+ years in business, 2,500+ machines delivered across North America. Sales and service run from Chicago, IL. Engineering, in-house parts machining and assembly are in Querétaro, Mexico, where AMD Machines operates 30+ in-house CNC machines across 70,000 sq ft of facilities. A laboratory project follows the same engineering, build and acceptance process as AMD Machines custom automation work, and why AMD Machines builds in Querétaro with in-house machining explains that model.

AMD Machines is ISO 9001 certified, a Universal Robots Certified Integrator, a Beckhoff Solution Provider, a Rockwell Automation Silver partner and a Siemens Partner. ISO 9001 is a quality-management certification and the others are automation and robot platform partnerships; none of them is a partnership with, or an authorization from, a test-instrument, furnace or vacuum-equipment manufacturer. See about AMD Machines and industries AMD Machines serves for more.

AMD Machines' finished machines are built to qualify under USMCA and typically enter the United States duty-free. Actual US entry treatment depends on the machine's classification, applicable origin requirements, and the rules in effect at entry; AMD Machines addresses it scope by scope during quoting.

Frequently asked questions about research laboratory automation

Which laboratory instrument should we automate first?

The first laboratory instrument to automate is usually the one with the most repetitive handling, the most usable interface signals and the most stable specimen geometry. An instrument that already reports ready, complete and fault states and has actuated grips, a powered door or actuated valves is the quickest to automate. One that needs a person at every cycle, for example to close manual grips or attach a sensor, often comes later or keeps that step manual. AMD Machines engineers compare the candidates with you during the feasibility assessment.

Can we start with one instrument and add stations later without redesigning everything?

Yes, a laboratory can start with one instrument and add stations later, if a few decisions are made at the start: a tray and carrier standard later stations can share, an identification scheme that does not depend on one instrument, controls with room for added stations, and a guarding layout with space to grow. AMD Machines reviews these decisions while the first scope is defined; each later station is still its own interface review and acceptance test.

Can a laboratory automation cell run unattended overnight or over a weekend?

Yes, a laboratory automation cell can run unattended when designed and accepted for it. It depends on tray and storage capacity, whether every exception leaves the cell in a safe, recorded state without a person present (such as holding the affected sample or pausing until staff return), how the cell restarts from each sample's last confirmed position, and whether the instrument and the laboratory's rules allow it. State the unattended duration when you request a quote: AMD Machines sizes storage, trays and the robot to it, and acceptance can include it.

Can our own laboratory software start runs on the automation cell?

Possibly: a request for a laboratory's own software to start runs on an AMD Machines cell is reviewed as part of the scope, together with any IT or cybersecurity approval your institution requires, and the cell's PLC remains the master for robot motion, safety systems and I/O. Specimen records reach your software through the interface agreed in the integration scope, as described under whether a laboratory automation cell needs a LIMS.

What happens when our specimens or experiments change after delivery?

Changes to specimens or experiments after delivery are handled two ways: small ones are planned for at design, and larger ones are scoped as additions. State at quoting which changes your staff should be able to make themselves, such as adding a specimen geometry, a nest position or a new batch setup, so the HMI and training of the AMD Machines system are scoped around them. A new geometry usually needs its own nest and gripper fingers, which can be made from the drawings delivered with the system. For a furnace cell, see what staff can change in a robotic furnace cell.