Ginkgo.Your Innovation Partner.
Modularity has found its foothold in the world of lab automation, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Modern research demands tools that are as adaptable as the scientists who use them, and conventional static workcells can’t always keep up with shifting scientific requirements.
Modular automation systems have change built into them. This helps labs reduce downtime, improve instrument ROI, and keep up with shifting requirements. A modular system future-proofs your lab’s automation infrastructure, letting it evolve in step with your organizational goals.
At Ginkgo, we set out to solve the challenges that prevent teams from benefiting from lab automation. Traditional workcells come with lengthy design cycles, limited scale, and a rigidity that makes even small changes expensive. This puts pressure on teams to design a perfect workcell before seeing how it impacts their lab.
We designed Reconfigurable Automation Carts (RACs) to be flexible from design to deploy to redeploy. Total system reconfigurability removes the risk of investing in a workcell, enabling our users to act now and adapt later. Each RAC is an independent unit that seamlessly connects to its neighbors for a building-block approach to factory-scale automation. This design empowers labs to expand, adapt, or reorient their setups in response to changing scientific (or space!) demands without the complexity or expense of a complete redesign.
Conventional, arm-based workcells often involve compromises on hardware layout and space. In many cases, engineers spend months fitting the largest possible set of devices around a single robotic arm. Any future changes—whether driven by an updated assay or the need for higher throughput—may require dismantling and rebuilding the system. This approach reduces operational agility and can dramatically inflate costs over time as simple tweaks turn into system-wide redesigns and downtime.
Some integrators sell rapid-release hardware modules designed to plug in or out of a system as quickly as possible. This can be valuable for highly operationalized environments—such as labs running the same workflows each week with predictable schedules—where downtime must be minimized, and swapping between a limited set of “preapproved” equipment configurations is sufficient.
However, for organizations whose automation needs are continually evolving—where new processes, assays, or devices crop up frequently—these hot-swappable modules do not fully address the underlying limitations of a rigid, arm-based system. You are still beholden to long lead times and a high-risk upfront commitment to particular equipment sets, and typically cannot scale beyond the pre-planned footprint without incurring extensive rework or encountering significant physical constraints.
Ginkgo’s RAC platform takes a more long-term approach to modularity:
Integrated hardware: With a robot arm, transport track segment, data and utilities routing, and HEPA filtration, each RAC is designed to optimize performance of a particular lab instrument. Connect multiple Carts into a loop for simple installation and reconfiguration.
Increased parallelization: A single robotic arm no longer bottlenecks workflows – multiple robotic arms can be integrated into the platform to increase equipment utilization.
Growth over time: Add RACs to your system to grow capacity or add capabilities when you need them, without costly redesign fees.
Minimal downtime: Completely reconfigure or relocate your RAC System in only a few hours, without months of redesign planning. Adaptability comes without the cost of operational delays.
Future-proof software: Our web-based Automation Control Software (ACS) provides collaborative control, remote monitoring, and continuous updates, ensuring that your system remains robust and adaptable over time.
Our building block approach lets laboratories launch new assays, integrate a newly designed instrument, or increase throughput by adding one RAC at a time with minimal disruption to daily operations. This reduces the cost of iteration while speeding up delivery for an organic, building-blocks approach to laboratory automation.
Reconfigurability gives you the freedom to adapt to changing laboratory needs without sacrificing throughput and walkaway time. Whether you’re a growing startup with uncertain capacity demands or a large organization staying agile in a changing landscape, you need automation that can follow your lead without slowing you down.
When new scientific questions arise, your RAC System is ready to grow, shrink, or change to meet new technical requirements. This capacity for ongoing adaptation is critical to modern research, where developments happen rapidly and experimental design often changes. The key benefits of Reconfigurable Automation Carts include:
Reduced risk and life cycle cost: Avoid large capital expenses for frequent system redesigns.
Accelerated innovation: Quickly incorporate new instruments or techniques without waiting months for a custom-engineered solution.
Scalability: Add more RACs or remove unused devices to adjust capacity as workload fluctuates. Scale is not limited by robot radius and hardware can be adapted to your lab layout.
Creative freedom: Process development, modifications, and optimization can continue beyond the deployment of your initial RAC System.
Remote Monitoring: The RAC System can be monitored remotely through cameras in order to address errors quickly.
Reconfigurable Automation Carts are an evolution beyond hot-swap solutions, offering lab teams the ability to adapt equipment and workflows with less frustration and lead time. By removing the constraints of conventional workcells, labs can move faster, explore more ambitiously, and keep pace with continual scientific advances—all while minimizing waste and improving the performance of their equipment.
Reach out to our team of technical experts to learn more about how RACs can simplify your automation journey.
