Anaerobic Microbial Phenotyping Platform (AMP2) 

AMP2 is designed to experimentally perturb and assay biological systems in an anaerobic environment. Housed in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, the system is envisioned as an end-to-end automated platform that enables researchers to investigate a wide variety of conditions using analytical methods. AMP2 will improve the reproducibility, scalability, and shareability of life science research by generating publicly available datasets. These datasets will support the development of predictive models that can bridge the gap between genotype and phenotype in microbiology.

Autonomy Studio

The Autonomy Studio provides a purpose-built space for running design-build-test-learn cycles using digital twins—with their physical counterparts sitting right next to them. Inside, researchers can prototype and connect the building blocks of an autonomous laboratory, including robotic platforms, sensors, and control systems, then measure performance in realistic workflows. A digital twin extends the studio beyond its walls, allowing teams across PNNL to model how autonomous systems could operate in their own lab spaces before hardware is deployed. The space is outfitted with motion capture to strengthen the feedback loop between simulation and reality, improving precision, coordination, and repeatability as systems learn. Prototype an experiment in simulation and then test it on-site. Fix the glitches and run it again. It’s a proving ground to perfect autonomous protocols and robotic handlers before moving into an operational lab.

Critical Materials Separations Laboratory

The autonomous laboratory for critical materials separations in the Energy Sciences Center is a space that brings together automated instruments with agentic workflows to enable discovery and advancement in separations science and technology. The platform leverages high-throughput robotics for chemistry experiments and an array of instruments for sample processing, multi-modal spectroscopy characterization, and mass spectrometry for automated evaluation of product purity and yield. The laboratory hardware couples to agentic AI workflows for feedstock evaluation, hypothesis generation, data acquisition, and processing to recover critical materials using multiple techniques, including selective precipitation, electrochemical, magnet-based, and biomolecular approaches.

Material Innovation through Robotics & AI Laboratory (MIRAL) 

MIRAL is a system anchored by two AI-guided high-throughput experimentation platforms capable of handling both aqueous and nonaqueous electrolyte studies. MIRAL offers researchers automated materials synthesis, screening, formulation, characterization, and optimization capabilities for large-scale data generation. Part robot, part workstation, part intelligent database, MIRAL functions autonomously using integrated machine learning algorithms and advanced software control, enabling researchers to accomplish tasks within a day that used to take weeks or even months.

PNNL-Sequim

At PNNL-Sequim, autonomy leaves the lab and moves to the open ocean—rapidly maturing technology from the bench to the bay. An autonomous surface vehicle persistently monitors marine systems for longer, over wider areas, and with more consistency than traditional approaches. By pairing surface technology with aerial drones, PNNL has multiplatform teaming: coordinated robots covering complex environments from the surface and the sky.