According to the partners, the remote-controlled Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Cloud Lab will provide a universal platform for AI-driven experimentation, and “revolutionise how academic laboratory research and education are done”.
Emerald’s 'cloud lab', which will be used as the basis for the new lab, allows scientists to conduct wet laboratory research without being in a physical laboratory. Instead, they can send their samples to a facility, design their experiments using ECL’s command-based software (with the assistance of AI-based design tools), and then execute the experiment remotely. A combination of robotic instrumentation and technicians perform the experiments as specified and the data is sent to cloud servers for access.
CMU researchers have used ECL facilities for research and teaching for several years. According to the university, cloud lab classes gave students valuable laboratory experience during the Covid-19 pandemic, even...