Laboratory Automation and Custom Research Equipment

Custom laboratory automation from AMD Machines is purpose-built equipment that identifies, handles and tracks solid specimens and coordinates with a research laboratory's own test frames, furnaces and vacuum systems, delivered with its fixtures, controls and documentation.

Depending on the project, AMD Machines equipment loads and unloads specimens at test frames you already own, moves samples between furnaces, cooling or quench positions and other instruments, or coordinates vacuum-system controls with sample transfer, and in each case keeps every specimen tied to its identity and data. We also build the fixtures, carriers, instrument adapters and custom parts those workflows need. This research laboratory automation is designed for university and national-laboratory research groups, shared research facilities that run instruments for many users, and industrial materials R&D and test laboratories, and this page is written for the facility engineers, laboratory managers, professors and procurement teams responsible for their equipment. What to send for a quote is listed under what is needed to quote a laboratory automation project, and national-laboratory buyers should read the export-control limits there before sending any files.

On these pages, a sample is a solid specimen, coupon, machined part or piece of material: the kind of sample that materials science, metallurgy, mechanical testing, thermal processing, nanofabrication and vacuum research work with.

What can AMD Machines automate in a research laboratory?

AMD Machines groups laboratory automation into four workflows, with fixtures and custom components supporting all of them.

Materials testing

A testing workflow repeats the same handling for every specimen: take it from storage, confirm its identity, place it in the grips, wait for the test, remove the pieces and record the result. AMD Machines engineers robotic specimen presentation, loading and unloading around test frames the laboratory already owns, including frames from manufacturers such as MTS, after reviewing the exact configuration and its interfaces. The frame keeps performing its specified testing and measurement functions, and naming a manufacturer does not imply a partnership with it or an authorization from it. What that review covers for automation around existing MTS test systems is set out on the materials testing page.

Grip actuation, enclosure and extensometer access, broken specimens and restart after an interruption are reviewed instrument by instrument, and fatigue or elevated-temperature testing is reviewed as its own configuration; the materials testing page covers each of these questions. Production leak, functional and end-of-line testing belongs to our test systems page.

Furnace and heat-treatment handling

Heat treatment and thermal experiments combine handling with timing. Samples are staged, loaded into a furnace, held, transferred to a quench or cooling position and recovered, often in carriers that have to survive the cycle. AMD Machines engineers that handling and integration around furnaces, pumps and instruments the laboratory already owns, or quotes a specifically defined integrated system. Recipes, temperatures, dwell and transfer limits, quench requirements and the resulting material properties come from the laboratory's own procedure and specification: they are reviewed as requirements, not promised as standard performance. See heat treatment and furnace automation. Ultrasonic, hot-plate and vibration joining of plastics is a different topic, covered under thermal processing.

Sample movement between stations

Moving samples between trays, conditioning positions, instruments and storage can be the first operation worth automating on its own, and the trays, grippers, presence checks, identification methods and exception rules AMD Machines engineers for it are described under sample handling and specimen identity below. Conveyors and plant-scale material flow are covered under material handling.

Vacuum system integration

Vacuum work adds a sequence the automation must respect: valves, pump states, venting, pressure and temperature readings, and interlocks that decide when a door or a transfer may move. AMD Machines integrates controls and sample handling around the laboratory's chambers, pumps and instruments, with commissioning and agreed acceptance testing. Two scope questions come first: whether the vacuum in question is a suction gripper's low (rough) vacuum, produced by an ejector or pump only to hold the part, or the vacuum environment of a process chamber; and whether the robot works outside the chamber or a mechanism must work inside it. Vacuum system automation explains both.

What fixtures and custom components does AMD Machines build?

A laboratory project can start with a part rather than a machine. AMD Machines designs and builds metal and plastic sample holders, specimen nests, instrument adapters, positioning fixtures, custom grippers, tray and carrier assemblies, replacement parts and repeat spare kits. A part can start from a CAD model, a 2D drawing or an approved reference sample. The same parts are what make an automated workflow reliable: a nest that holds every specimen geometry the same way is part of the automation, not an accessory to it.

Larger custom research equipment, such as laboratory test stands and experiment rigs, is scoped from a functional requirement; see how test stands and experiment rigs are scoped.

Components in alumina, MACOR® machinable glass ceramic, tungsten or molybdenum, including furnace supports and other hot-zone parts that must be made in these materials, can be submitted for review. Each depends on the exact grade, geometry and service conditions, and AMD Machines confirms whether it can quote each part only after that review. The custom laboratory parts and research fixtures page explains what to send and how these materials differ.

Should you automate one operation, integrate an instrument, or coordinate several stations?

Laboratory automation projects fall into three scopes. Naming the right one early keeps the quote, the schedule and the acceptance test realistic.

Automating one repetitive operation

The smallest scope takes one manual task that is repeated many times and gives it to a machine: transferring samples from a tray into holders, sorting specimens by their codes, loading carriers for a furnace run, or staging specimens for an operator. The equipment has few connections to anything else, often a start signal and a done signal, so it is the quickest scope to define and prove.

Integrating an existing instrument

Here the automation works with equipment the laboratory already owns, such as a test frame, a furnace or a vacuum chamber. The instrument keeps doing what it was specified to do; the automation presents and removes samples and exchanges signals with it. The engineering work is the interface review: how the door or enclosure opens, how grips or clamps are actuated, which ready, running, complete and fault states are available and in what form, whether the instrument's software accepts an external start, and what data it exports. The interface is built and tested on the controller and software versions recorded in the scope, so any later update to the instrument's software or firmware should be reviewed before it is installed, because it can change the signals or files the automation relies on.

Calibration and service of the instrument stay with its owner and the instrument's manufacturer or service provider, and the instrument keeps its own measurement, control and safety functions. If the review shows the instrument needs an added device, such as an automation interface option, actuated grips, a door actuator or actuated valves, that device is chosen with you and, where it changes the instrument, with its manufacturer or accessory supplier, including any effect on the instrument's warranty or service agreement; the agreed scope states who supplies it. Upgrades to existing automation equipment, such as an older robot cell, an obsolete PLC or a safety system, are covered by our upgrades and retrofits service.

Coordinating multiple stations

The largest scope moves samples through several stations, for example identification, conditioning, processing or testing, and storage, with one supervisory controller that tracks each sample, manages queues and decides what happens when a station is busy or offline. In AMD Machines robotic cells, the PLC serves as the cell master, coordinating robot motion, safety systems, vision triggers, and I/O. We typically standardize on Allen-Bradley (ControlLogix, CompactLogix) for North American projects and also work with Siemens, Omron, Beckhoff and B&R platforms when an institution has its own standard.

A laboratory's business case for any scope rests on researcher and technician hours returned to research, runs that continue unattended and consistent specimen handling; the ROI of robotic automation guide sets out the general model.

A project can begin with the first or second scope and be laid out so the third remains possible; the FAQ below explains what that requires.

How do identification, handling, testing and data fit together?

Laboratory automation, whatever the instrument, combines up to four application categories: identification, handling, processing or testing, and data association. The diagram shows how they relate.

Not every project needs all four. A sorting cell may only identify and handle, while a coordinated cell uses all four across its stations.

How does AMD Machines handle solid samples and specimen identity?

Sample handling decides whether a laboratory cell can run unattended. A gripper that cannot hold every geometry, a tray that can be loaded backward, or a code that cannot be read after a furnace cycle stops a run as surely as an instrument fault. We review each of the points below with the laboratory before the handling is designed.

Which solid samples can be handled automatically?

Common sample types include flat coupons and sheet specimens, round and threaded-end specimens, small cast, forged, pressed or sintered pieces, samples that ride in a crucible, boat or carrier, and brittle samples such as ceramics or glass, where contact force and contact location matter. For each type we review:

• whether the geometry changes between batches, and by how much
• which surfaces must not be touched or marked
• mass, size and how the sample can be gripped without damage
• the sample's temperature when it is picked up
• whether the sample changes during the process: it may fracture into two or more pieces, oxidize, shrink or come out hot

Robotic handling fits when these properties are known and repeat within limits a gripper and nest can accommodate. When they do not, the workflow can keep a manual step and automate the rest.

Trays, carriers and nests

A tray or carrier presents each sample at a known position, so the robot picks it without searching for it. The design points we review are: one nest per geometry or an adjustable nest; keying, so a tray cannot be loaded rotated or backward; position numbering that maps each nest to a sample identity; carrier materials that suit the temperature and cleanliness of every station the carrier visits; and whether samples travel through a furnace or chamber in the carrier or are transferred out of it. A tray and carrier standard shared by several stations also makes it simpler to add stations later.

Grippers and end-of-arm tooling

Each geometry and condition needs a matched gripper: fingers with custom jaws for machined specimens, compliant contact for brittle samples, forks or tongs for carriers, and suction cups for flat parts with a suitable surface. At AMD Machines, the gripper is designed with the cell. We design EOAT in-house using Schunk PGN-plus pneumatic grippers, custom vacuum tooling with Piab vacuum generators, and servo-electric grippers from Zimmer for force-sensitive applications. When a cell handles several geometries, a tool changer or a multi-position gripper avoids a compromise jaw. Grippers that handle hot samples need heat-tolerant fingers and a defined exposure limit, which belongs to the heat-treatment review.

Presence checks and orientation

Presence checks prevent two basic handling faults: placing a sample where one already sits, and closing a gripper on nothing. Typical checks confirm that a sample is present in its nest, held in the gripper (by jaw position or a sensor), gone from the pick position after the pick, and present at the instrument before the instrument is told to start. Machine vision adds orientation checks and code reading where geometry or position varies.

Identification: mark the specimen, the carrier, or both

Identity comes before handling. On AMD Machines production test systems, the rule is a barcode scan, RFID read, or serial number entry before every test: no scan, no test. In a laboratory, the choice is where the identity lives.

AMD Machines designs traceability systems with inline verification of the mark, using readers such as Cognex DataMan and Keyence SR-2000. A test that ends in fracture can leave two or more pieces with one identity, so every piece goes to a position that keeps that identity, such as a numbered bin or tray position, and the record and the physical pieces still match. For the marking station itself, see part marking and traceability systems; for traceability across a whole operation, see marking and traceability.

Exception handling

Exceptions are designed in, not discovered at site acceptance. The laboratory and our engineers agree in advance what the cell does in each case, and acceptance testing exercises those cases. Typical responses agreed at design:

• Unreadable or missing code: retry the read, then move the sample to a hold position and record the event. A sample is not processed without an identity.
• Empty or occupied nest: stop that move and flag the position, so a sample is never placed on top of another.
• Failed pick or dropped sample: gripper sensing detects it, and the cell stops the affected sequence and calls an operator.
• Wrong orientation or geometry: reject the sample to a hold position before it reaches the instrument.
• Instrument not ready or reporting a fault: hold the sample, or route it to another station when the scope includes one.
• Broken specimen or unexpected condition: follow a defined recovery path and keep every piece with its identity.
• Interrupted batch (power loss, emergency stop, a guard door opened): restart from a known state, with each sample's last confirmed position and status recorded, so the batch can be resumed or closed out without guessing.

Associating specimen identity with instrument data

Data association is a defined integration scope, not an open-ended software promise. The automation records which specimen was at which station, when, and under which program or batch, and links that record to the data each instrument makes available: status signals, result files, an export from the instrument's software, or a database. What can be linked depends on what each instrument exposes, so we review the outputs of every instrument and write the data scope into the proposal. Connectivity options on AMD Machines systems include OPC UA, MQTT, REST API interfaces and direct database writes (SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL), and the record can be delivered as a file, as a database table or through another interface agreed in the proposal.

AMD Machines does not supply a laboratory information management system (LIMS), an electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) or an autonomous research platform. If your laboratory uses one, the record can be delivered as a file in a format agreed with its administrators; any direct connection to it is reviewed with them and, where feasible, written into the integration scope. The LIMS or ELN itself remains your laboratory's system. For test results specifically, see how specimen identities are linked to test results.

How is a laboratory robot made safe around researchers?

A laboratory robot is made safe through a risk assessment of the whole robot application, which decides between a cobot working beside researchers and an industrial robot inside interlocked guarding. AMD Machines starts that assessment during concept design, because research laboratories often have people working beside the equipment.

AMD Machines integrates FANUC CRX, Universal Robots UR10 and UR20, Yaskawa HC, and Doosan cobots when the floor plan, part weight, and risk assessment support it. When payload, speed, or a hot or sharp sample rules a cobot out, the industrial robot is guarded as in our robotic cells. Where researchers also use an instrument by hand, the same risk assessment defines where the robot parks, who may switch between manual and automatic use, and how the cell confirms which positions hold samples before it restarts.

In the US, OSHA has no robot-specific standard. Where OSHA applies, the employer's obligations come from general industry rules such as machine guarding (29 CFR 1910.212) and the control of hazardous energy (29 CFR 1910.147). Public universities may be covered by a state plan instead, and contractors at DOE laboratories follow 10 CFR 851, which requires compliance with the OSHA general industry standards in 29 CFR 1910. The robot application itself is risk-assessed against ANSI/A3 R15.06, the US robot safety standard, and ISO 10218-2:2025, which covers industrial robot applications and robot cells. AMD Machines builds control panels to your specified UL 508A requirements and machine electrical systems to your specified NFPA 79 requirements, and delivers complete safety documentation packages with every system: risk assessments, safety circuit drawings, verification test records, and operator training materials. Our robot safety standards guide explains risk assessment and collaborative operation in more depth.

What information is needed to quote a laboratory automation project?

AMD Machines engineers review requests sent through the contact form. For a system, the first step is a feasibility assessment and budgetary quote, at no cost, and the inputs in the table below define its scope: specimens, instruments, the present problem, process sequence, throughput, interfaces, acceptance criteria, timing, site and purchasing rules.

Before you send files: AMD Machines is currently not compliant with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). It cannot currently accept projects involving defense articles on the US Munitions List (USML), ITAR-controlled technical data, defense services as defined under ITAR, projects requiring US person access restrictions, or any work subject to export control regulations under 22 CFR Parts 120 through 130. No email address, form or file upload on this website, including the contact form, is approved for ITAR-controlled information. Do not send ITAR-controlled or other export-controlled drawings, models, photos or data through any of them. If a project may involve ITAR-controlled information, first tell us only that it may be ITAR sensitive, as the AMD Machines ITAR notice explains, and send nothing until we confirm in writing how it is to be handled.

For a part, the first step is a review of the drawing, material and quantity; parts in alumina, MACOR® machinable glass ceramic, tungsten or molybdenum are reviewed one by one before we confirm whether we can quote them. The laboratory parts page lists what each material needs.

What does a laboratory automation project deliver?

A laboratory automation project from AMD Machines is delivered as a complete, documented system:

• Mechanical design. Mechanical, controls, and safety engineering under one roof. Full 3D CAD of your cell, cycle-time simulation, and design reviews with your team before anything is cut.
• Tooling. Grippers, nests, trays, carriers, fixtures and instrument adapters designed for your samples and instruments.
• Controls. PLC and HMI programming, safety circuits, and the signal and data interfaces to each instrument in the agreed scope.
• Documentation. Every machine ships with full documentation: mechanical drawings, electrical schematics, PLC program documentation, spare parts lists, and maintenance procedures. AMD Machines includes recommended spare parts lists and criticality assessments with every system it builds, and custom-machined parts are fully documented with drawings so any competent machine shop can reproduce them.
• Agreed factory and site acceptance. Every project includes a formal FAT at our facility and SAT at yours, with agreed-upon acceptance criteria documented in the purchase order.
• Installation, training and support. Installation, commissioning, and hands-on training for your operators and maintenance staff (on-site training for new equipment installations is included with most AMD Machines system purchases), then remote support over a secure VPN connection where your IT policy allows, and spare parts. See maintenance and support and training.
• Project visibility. Every project runs on a shared Smartsheet plan: you see the same live schedule, milestones, and open items our engineers do, from kickoff to acceptance.

Who designs and builds the equipment?

AMD Machines (Advanced Manufacturing Development LLC) designs and builds custom automation and robotic systems: founded in 1996, 30+ years in business, 2,500+ machines delivered across North America. Sales and service run from Chicago, IL. Engineering, in-house parts machining and assembly are in Querétaro, Mexico, where it operates 30+ in-house CNC machines across 70,000 sq ft of facilities. A laboratory project follows the same engineering, build and acceptance process as our custom automation work; why we build in Querétaro with in-house machining explains that model.

AMD Machines is ISO 9001 certified, a Universal Robots Certified Integrator, a Beckhoff Solution Provider and a Rockwell Automation Silver partner. ISO 9001 is a quality-management certification and the others are automation and robot platform partnerships; none of them is a partnership with, or an authorization from, a test-instrument, furnace or vacuum-equipment manufacturer. More on the company is on the about AMD Machines page, and other sectors are listed under industries.

AMD Machines' finished machines are built to qualify under USMCA and typically enter the United States duty-free. Actual US entry treatment depends on the machine's classification, applicable origin requirements, and the rules in effect at entry; we address it scope by scope during quoting.

Frequently asked questions

Which instrument should we automate first?

Usually the instrument with the most repetitive handling, the most usable interface signals and the most stable specimen geometry. An instrument that runs many specimens a day, already reports ready, complete and fault states, has actuated grips, a powered door or actuated valves, and handles a few repeatable shapes is the quickest to automate. One that needs a person at every cycle, for example to close manual grips or attach a sensor, often comes later or keeps that step manual. AMD Machines engineers compare the candidates with you during the feasibility assessment.

Can we begin with one instrument and expand later?

Yes. Starting with one instrument, or with one repetitive operation, lets a laboratory prove the handling and the identification scheme before committing to more. Expansion is easier when a few decisions are made at the start: a tray and carrier standard that later stations can share, an identification scheme that does not depend on one instrument, controls with room for added stations and their signals, and a guarding layout that leaves space to grow. We review these with you while the first scope is defined. Each later station is still its own interface review and its own acceptance test.

What happens when our specimens or experiments change after delivery?

Small changes can be planned for at design, and larger ones are scoped as additions. State at quoting which changes your staff should be able to make themselves, such as adding a specimen geometry, a nest position or a new batch setup, so the HMI and training are scoped around them. A new geometry usually needs its own nest and gripper fingers, which can be made from the drawings delivered with the system. For instrument-specific setup, the FAQs on the heat treatment automation and vacuum system automation pages explain what staff can change in a furnace cell and which manual operating modes a vacuum chamber keeps.

What determines the cost and lead time of a laboratory automation project?

The project's scope sets both: the number of instruments and the interfaces each one exposes, the number of sample geometries, the identification and data scope, the guarding approach (a cobot area or a fenced cell), special conditions such as hot samples or vacuum transfer, and the documentation and acceptance requirements.

AMD Machines delivers simple machines in as little as 6 weeks and complex systems in 24–26 weeks, vs. 40–42 weeks typical for overseas builders. These ranges are for machines and systems, not for individual parts or fixtures. A laboratory project's price and lead time are set in its proposal once the instruments, samples and acceptance criteria are defined; AMD Machines' published budgetary ranges for custom automation by system type give a general cost reference, and the guide to custom automation lead times explains what drives each range.

How do factory testing and final onsite integration differ?

The factory acceptance test (FAT) happens at AMD Machines' facility in Querétaro, Mexico, before shipment, against acceptance criteria agreed in advance, and you can attend it. It proves the handling, identification, exception responses and controls with your representative samples. When an instrument stays in your laboratory, the FAT is defined around what can be proven without it, such as signals exercised against a simulated interface, and the remaining items move to site acceptance.

The site acceptance test (SAT) happens in your laboratory. AMD Machines handles rigging, positioning, utility connections, and commissioning at your facility, connects the system to your instruments, and proves the agreed criteria with your samples and your staff, followed by training. Our guide to how custom automated machines are designed describes both phases.

What documentation and spare-parts information can be included?

The standard AMD Machines package, listed under what a laboratory automation project delivers, includes full documentation, recommended spare parts lists and criticality assessments, and your institution's own requirements can be added to it. State any requirements for document formats, drawing standards or asset records at quoting so they become part of the agreed scope. The guides on documentation requirements for automation systems and spare parts strategy go into more detail.