Laboratory automation was made possible through advances in instrumentation, robotics, and computers.
| 1941-5 |
First automated laboratory devices (distilation units, automatic titrators, polarographs, recording instruments, water stills) |
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| 1946 |
First general purpose computer |
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| 1950s |
Microtitler plate (microplate) developed |
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| 1951 |
First teleoperated articulated arm |
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| 1952 |
First numerically-controlled machine tool demonstrated |
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| 1954 |
First programmable robot |
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| 1960 |
Transistors replace vacuum tubes |
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| 1961-62 |
First industrial robot (Unimate) |
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| 1965 |
Carnegie Mellon Universiiy establishes Robotics Institute |
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| 1967 |
First robot imported into Japan |
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| 1969 |
First programmable controller (PLC) |
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| 1970s |
96-well microplate format introduced |
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| 1970 |
Standard Arm designed |
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| 1976 |
Viking 1 and 2 space probes use robot arms and microprocessor incorporated into the design |
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| 1983 |
First microprocessor-based motion controller |
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| 1996 |
Association for Laboratory Automation (ALA) formed |
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| 1997 |
RoboDesign International founded |
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| 1997 |
Mars Pathfinder robot lands on Mars |
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| 2003 |
Human Genome project presented complete version |
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| 2005 |
Let's Go Robotics founded |
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