Fig. 2: Schematic illustrating both centralized (top left) and distributed (top right) self-driving laboratories (SDLs).

Laboratories are represented with Greek letters, their requested research projects (jobs) with numbers (for simplicity, each laboratory is planning one job), and their individual capabilities with icons in gray circles. In the centralized approach, multiple laboratories submit their job requests to a single, highly capable facility, and time on various center facilities is equitably distributed between applicants throughout the day. In the distributed approach, various (temporary) groups form around capabilities, and the groups can distribute tasks amongst themselves (jobs can freely flow between collaborators), share information, and transmit instructions and materials (digital letter and airplane) as appropriate.