Table 1 Summary comparison of centralized and distributed self-driving laboratory (SDL) paradigms
From: Science acceleration and accessibility with self-driving labs
Centralized | Distributed | |
|---|---|---|
# of SDLs (cumulative) | Few | Many |
SDL ownership | Foundations, Universities, Consortia, Private companies | Individual research groups |
Staffing (cumulative) | Low | High |
Access to SDL | By application/fee | By certification |
Setup cost per SDL | Medium–High (founder) None (user) | Low–Medium |
Operating cost per campaign | Low–Medium (founder) Medium–High (user) | Low–Medium |
Operating cost & time per experiment | Low | High |
# Research areas addressable | Fewer | More |
Throughput per SDL | High | Low |
Throughput (cumulative) | Medium | Medium–High |
How to address generality | Accept user-submitted devices Flexible automation Multimodal devices | Standardization |
How to address development costs | Frugal twins or prototyping systems for individual research groups | |
