Title: Orchestration of Heterogeneous Experimental Machines via ROS2 for Automated Bulk Intermetallic Synthesis Show Chinese title

Title: 通过 ROS2 协调异构实验机器用于自动化批量金属间化合物合成

Abstract: With advances in informatics applied to materials science, predicting the physical properties of numerous materials has become increasingly feasible, creating a growing demand for their experimental validation. It has been expected that the integration of robotic systems into experimental materials science excels at efficiently performing repetitive and time-consuming tasks without the need for human intervention, thus significantly increasing throughput and reducing the risk of human error, while there have been a limited number of reports tackled the synthesis process of solid bulk material so far possibly because of the complex as well as a wide variety of processes to deal with. In this paper, we report an automated arc melting system controlled by a robot operating system2 (ROS2). Taking advantage of ROS2, we have constructed a machine that can handle multiple experimental apparatuses simultaneously with flexibility for future expansion of functions. The constructed machine is capable of not only performing repeated operation of a specific process but also dealing with multiple elements for synthesis of intermetallic compounds. The system is expected to accelerate experimental validation of data-driven materials exploration. Show Chinese abstract

Abstract: 随着信息学在材料科学中的应用进展，预测多种材料的物理性质变得越来越可行，从而产生了对其实验验证的日益增长的需求。 人们期望将机器人系统整合到实验材料科学中，能够高效地执行重复性和耗时的任务，而无需人工干预，从而显著提高通量并降低人为错误的风险，但迄今为止，关于固体块体材料合成过程的报告数量有限，这可能是因为需要处理的工艺复杂且种类繁多。 在本文中，我们报告了一个由机器人操作系统2（ROS2）控制的自动化电弧熔炼系统。 利用ROS2，我们构建了一台可以同时处理多个实验装置的机器，并具有未来功能扩展的灵活性。 该构建的机器不仅能够执行特定过程的重复操作，还能处理多种元素以合成金属间化合物。 该系统有望加速数据驱动材料探索的实验验证。