Robotic System for Chemical Experiment Automation with Dual Demonstration of End-effector and Jig Operations

While robotic automation has demonstrated remarkable performance, such as executing hundreds of experiments continuously over several days, it is challenging to design a program that synchronizes the robot's movements with the experimental jigs to conduct an experiment. We propose a concept that enables the automation of experiments by utilizing dual demonstrations of robot motions and jig operations by chemists in an experimental environment constructed to be controlled by a robot. To verify this concept, we developed a chemical-experiment-automation system consisting of jigs to assist the robot in experiments, a motion-demonstration interface, a jig-control interface, and a mobile manipulator. We validate the concept through polymer-synthesis experiments, focusing on critical liquid-handling tasks such as pipetting and dilution. The experimental results indicate high reproducibility of the demonstrated motions and robust task-success rates. This comprehensive concept not only simplifies the robot programming process for chemists but also provides a flexible and efficient solution to accommodate a wide range of experimental conditions, contributing significantly to the field of chemical experiment automation.

@article{sasaki2025_2506.11384,
  title={ Robotic System for Chemical Experiment Automation with Dual Demonstration of End-effector and Jig Operations },
  author={ Hikaru Sasaki and Naoto Komeno and Takumi Hachimine and Kei Takahashi and Yu-ya Ohnishi and Tetsunori Sugawara and Araki Wakiuchi and Miho Hatanaka and Tomoyuki Miyao and Hiroharu Ajiro and Mikiya Fujii and Takamitsu Matsubara },
  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.11384},
  year={ 2025 }
}