1 Introduction

1.1 Motivation

Roboliq aims to make it easier to use liquid handling robots for automation in biological laboratories.

It lets you write protocols that are portable between labs, and it compiles the protocols for execution by liquid handling robots.

The only supported backend is for Tecan Evoware robots, but other backends can also be added.

1.2 Get started

This guide presumes some familiarity with the command line terminal. You can install Roboliq by following these steps:

  1. Install nodejs, which lets you execute Javascript programs.

  2. If you’re using Microsoft Windows, install the cygwin terminal, which will be used for typing in commands.

  3. Copy the Roboliq repository to your computer.

  4. Open the terminal, navigate to the directory where you copied the Roboliq repository, and run npm install to download Roboliq’s software requirements.

Furthermore, the unit tests can be run by running by running npm test, and the documentation can be generated by running npm run docs.

1.3 Usage

The typical steps in running a Roboliq protocol on a Tecan Evoware robot are:

  1. Write a configuration for your lab or use one which has been written by someone else.

  2. Write a script for your protocol using the Roboliq syntax and commands.

  3. Compile your script and configuration to create a program (.ESC) to be executed by your robot.

  4. Open the Tecan Evoware script (.ESC) in Evoware, and run it.

  5. Load Roboliq’s measurement data into R or another statics program to analyze the data.