POLiS Lab

FINALES

The Fast INtention-Agnostic LEarning Server (FINALES) software framework provides a central hub for communication between different tenants. A tenant is a unit connected to FINALES that may be a piece of hardware, a software, a human researcher or even a whole laboratory. This means, that FINALES can serve as a basis for MAPs. FINALES provides the possibility for tenants to post requests asking for certain data to be provided. Such a request may be picked up by another tenant that is capable of running an experiment, executing an algorithm, querying a model, etc. to obtain the requested data that it subsequently posts back to FINALES as a result. FINALES itself serves as a purely passive marketplace and does not trigger any actions. It does not impose requirements on the internal procedures of the tenants and is therefore facile to connect versatile tenants to FINALES. Also, by leaving the control of the respective processes with the tenants, decentralized MAPs become feasible. Also, tenants can be temporarily disconnected from the MAP and reconnected at a later point in time without disrupting the remaining MAP. FINALES can also be run within an institution to enable external collaborators to request the laboratory’s services using FINALES as an interface.

HELAO

The Hierarchical Experimental Laboratory Automation and Orchestration (HELAO) framework orchestrates different instruments within a laboratory. Researchers can define experiments as a sequence of calls to actions that are implemented in HELAO. These actions are in turn calling lower-level functions on a driver level. An example could be, that a researcher wants a probe head to be moved to a specific position on a sample. For this, the respective action would be called that in turn calls the necessary driver level functions for moving a motor. Since device-specific calls are encapsulated in the driver functions and actions are defined in a more general fashion, actions may be reused for different setups by only exchanging the driver layer.

HELAO collects metadata during all its processes and therefore enables traceability and comprehensive information about executed process steps. Furthermore, experimental procedures controlled by HELAO can be augmented with machine learning algorithms to achieve autonomously operating clusters of instruments.

ASAB

The setup for the Autonomous Synthesis and Analysis of Battery Electrolytes (ASAB) automatically formulates liquid electrolytes based on stock solutions and analyses them using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), densimetry or viscometry. It can further output the prepared solutions so they can be used for example to assemble coin cells using the Automatic Battery Assembly System (AutoBASS). Automatic triggers for all instruments except the NMR device are implemented. ASAB utilizes the Modular and Autonomous Data Analysis Platform (MADAP) to automatically analyze EIS results and obtain the ionic conductivity of the electrolytes, which is an important property of electrolytes in battery applications. Due to this high degree of automation, the ASAB system can be integrated in fully autonomous research campaigns centered around FINALES requiring only minor human intervention.

AutoBASS

The Automatic Battery ASsembly System (AutoBASS) can fully automatically assemble coin cells with high reproducibility and minimal human intervention. The system is equipped with three robotic arms that are used to pick and place the cell components, add the electrolyte using a pipetting tip, and place the cell in the crimper or collect it from there, respectively. AutoBASS further has two cameras. One is attached to the robot arm and a second one is positioned next to the pole where the cells are assembled. These cameras are used to correct for off-center gripping using an edge detection algorithm to improve the stacking accuracy. The photos taken by the cameras are stored for documentation of the assembly process. AutoBASS was also included in a FINALES-based MAP.

Cycler

Once assembled, the coin cells are transferred out of the glovebox and mounted in the channels of the battery cycler. This device charges and discharges the battery cells according to a protocol that is provided by a researcher. Except for the mounting of the cells and the definition of the cycling procedure, the operation of this machine is also fully automated and the data can even be analyzed automatically. This enabled inclusion of this device as part of a MAP based on FINALES.

HITS

The setup for High-Throughput Spectroscopy (HITS) can perform spectroscopic analysis using Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. This device utilizes a sample stage movable in x, y, and z direction to raster over a sample. Samples may be for example wafers coated with electrode material and tested using the SDC (see below). A transformation between the coordinate systems of HITS and the SDC is implemented to allow the correlation of the results for every sample position.

SDC

The Scanning Droplet Cell (SDC) consists of a movable probe head attached to a force sensor. The probe head is equipped with a reference electrode, a counter electrode and a tube to provide electrolyte. The electrodes are connected to a potentiostat. The probe head is lifted up from the sample, moved to a sample position and lowered down to establish contact with the sample by a set of spindles and motors. Once the probe head is lowered, electrolyte is supplied to the measuring volume where it contacts the sample, the reference electrode and the counter electrode. In this setup, the sample serves as the working electrode. The electrolyte composition may be varied and EIS, cyclic voltammetry (CV) or other electrochemical tests feasible in such a three-electrode setup can be performed. The SDC allows to stop e.g. CV experiments at various points in time and subsequent analysis of the results can yield information about the SEI or CEI formed on the sample, which are critical for the performance of batteries.