DIY Lego Robot Brings Lab Automation to Students

In an attempt to get robotics-minded kids more interested in life sciences--and vice versa--Stanford researchers have designed DIY robot kits for automating chemistry experiments. Using a Lego Mindstorms EV3 set and some plastic syringes, students can build robots that measure and transfer liquids, automating their their classroom laboratory assignments. Instructions for building the robot were published Tuesday in the journal PloS Biology. "What's key for me is that we merge robotics education--which is loved by kids and teachers--and life sciences education," says Ingmar Riedel-Kruse, a bioengineer at Stanford who led the project. And maybe it's more fun to engage in chemistry or biology experiments if you do it with a playful robot."