Lab automation integrated with advanced motion control technology helps labs scale workflows while maintaining sample quality and regulatory traceability using adaptive automation and low-agitation motion control.
Lab software and magnetic motion control integration insights
- Lab automation software integrated with magnetically levitating, adaptive, low-agitation motion control technologies is helping improve biotechnology labs maintain sample quality and regulatory traceability.
- Engineering software and artificial intelligence (AI) software integrates with lab automation software to make magnetic motion controls more useful in modular applications.
- Real-time industrial Ethernet software provides diagnostic capabilities and integrated engineering software toolchain simplify root cause analysis and shorten troubleshooting time.
Integration of lab automation software with magnetically levitating, adaptive, low-agitation motion control technologies is helping improve biotechnology labs maintain sample quality and regulatory traceability. Over the past few years, biotechnology has advanced at a remarkable pace. Alongside these developments, automation has become increasingly integrated into scientific research. From developing new virologic cures for persistently hard-to-treat diseases to pushing the limits of cancer immunotherapy and genetic medicines, automation and controls engineers are playing an increasingly important role in modern research. The engineers at San Diego-based Biosero apply lab automation expertise into the R&D process, integrating automation technology into scientific workflow, accelerate discovery and adapting to the evolving needs of researchers. Below, see four operational benefits.
See the Beckhoff XPlanar at work, integrated with Biosero’s modular laboratory automation. Courtesy: © Beckhoff, 2026
In 2024, the company looked for a transport solution that could move fragile samples across tightly packed lab cells without vibration, noise or compromise to material and data integrity that could hinder the next big medical discovery. Over more than two decades in lab automation, Biosero developed an orchestration-first approach to integrating instruments, robotics and data systems across complex laboratory environments.
The company’s Green Button Go orchestration software coordinates robots, lab instruments, transport systems and schedulers as part of one, predictable workflow environment in many automated laboratories around the world. The orchestration layer software enables new technologies to be integrated into that environment while maintaining a consistent approach to workflow execution, data flow and system management. Biosero integrated a magnetically levitating intelligent transport technology, an automation software platform and EtherCAT networking to provide the required delicate handling, determinism and openness.
Adaptive automation
This journey to adaptive automation began in trade show aisles and technical conversations. “I first learned about [Beckhoff] XPlanar through conversations and demos at the SLAS trade show,” said John Canty, senior IT architect at Biosero. Canty and his Biosero colleagues recognized that motion control platform could replace the heavier transport systems they were using. Biosero used Beckhoff USA’s Special Projects Team to accelerate development to create the software projects for the XPlanar-enabled systems and train Biosero engineers so they could support the new machines in the field.
Biosero customers include small research labs experimenting with new cancer assays to large production environments running population‑scale DNA tests. One disrupted microplate, a poorly timed pick or inconsistent handling can force rework, delay critical research timelines and complicate FDA regulatory submissions. The integrated software and motion control system “ensure that movers and robots transport test plates efficiently and consistently throughout the process,” Canty said. “This protects sample quality and traceability for our customers.”
Integrated automation, as applied, ensures consistency
Project engineers stress that consistency is a prerequisite for downstream analytics, audit trails and for successful submissions to regulatory authorities. The magnetic motion control system answered a parallel set of needs, providing floating and flying movers that glide silently in any direction across motor tiles, enabling plates and carriers to be delivered to robots and other instruments without the shocks and vibration of alternative handling systems. Motor tiles can be arranged in any lab layout for movers that hover, offer 6 degrees of freedom in motion, lift up to 5 mm, rotate 360 degrees, tilt up to 5 degrees and can speed along at velocities up to 3 m/s.
The magnetically levitating motion system provides “smooth and near silent operation,” said Evelyne Ploquin, P. Eng., solutions architect and team lead at Biosero. “Our applications require very gentle handling throughout our processes,” and the “movers don’t shake compounds or samples.” For assays sensitive to agitation – cell work, delicate proteins or sample preparations – that stability can improve results by eliminating a major source of variability. For lab engineers and scientists, better motion controls create fewer repeats, clearer signals and a low likelihood that a seemingly minor handling event will have ripple effects that lead to costly delays.
More details of material handling motion technology
The material handling system provides a full automation and control architecture that can coordinate maglev movers, robots, vision systems and instruments with microsecond reliability.
PC-based control via an industrial PC with an 8-core processor provided the processing power, and EtherCAT supplied the speed and determinism. The industrial Ethernet protocol’s low latency, built‑in diagnostics features, and flexibility to easily add distributed I/O and connect with other networks as systems scale made it a natural fit for orchestrating all devices in a modern lab cell. The motion control supplier supplied prebuilt control cabinets, which simplified on‑site work.
“We just drop the system in place, plug everything in, power up and run some simple tests before getting it up and running,” Canty said.
The PC‑based engineering environment and automation runtime provided a universal ecosystem where magnetic motion control, PLC, general motion control and safety functions coexist in one platform. As Biosero’s engineering staff is highly proficient in C# and Visual Studio, PC‑based engineering environment and automation runtime software’s deep integration with Microsoft’s development environment flattened the learning curve and enabled reuse of engineering practices across projects. Programming in the engineering software was “instantly familiar to our team because of the Visual Studio integration,” Canty said. “It gives us a cohesive environment we’re used to, with Git integrations and tools that C# developers immediately recognize.” That familiarity translated into faster iterations along with clearer traceability and validation for customers in highly regulated industries.
Modular automation: Change course without losing direction
For Biosero, the objective is not to standardize on one technology, but to orchestrate the right combination of technologies for a given workflow and allow the system to evolve over time. Rather than a monolithic machine where conveyors and large robotic arms try to do everything, modular work cells, coordinated by orchestration software, connect through adaptive automation motion control technologies. Individual cells perform instrument‑specific tasks under the deterministic guidance of the engineering software and EtherCAT while the magnetic motion control continuously carries well plates between stations without disturbance to material integrity. The arrangement is:
- Compact, reducing the machine footprint compared to traditional conveyor or puck-based systems for labs.
- Far more flexible because reconfigurations for new assays or plate formats are software-driven rather than engineering‑intensive mechanical and electrical changeovers.
That flexibility matters for throughput, quality and lab economics. Customers in biotech and pharma industries often need rapid changeovers between experiments or must support large stock-keeping unit (SKU) counts across many consumable formats. The combination of the magnetic motion control’s dynamic path planning and the orchestration software makes changeovers faster and less disruptive. In practice, this reduces downtime between production runs and shortens validation cycles when new formats or instruments are introduced. For labs under pressure to scale R&D or clinical diagnostics, that flexibility helps reduce disruption when workflows, formats or system requirements change over time.
The orchestration layer aggregates machine state, event logs and diagnostic data in a structured way that enables downstream analytics and practical, “hype‑free” artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
Canty pointed to AI’s immediate value in troubleshooting: entering logs into a genAI tool often gives engineers a reasonable place to start.
Four operational benefits to maglev motion control application
An emerging software extension to the engineering software to help accelerate programming and development is integrating AI technologies into a standard automation software platform.
“The biggest advantage I see with AI is with troubleshooting,” Canty said. The AI extension takes that further by providing “contextualized troubleshooting recommendations and deep code‑generation support directly in the engineering environment.”
The implementation ignites engineering discovery among those working with new automation and motion control platforms.
“You find all of the engineering limits and then you push them – it’s fun,” Canty said. That curiosity paid off in design improvements and in a deeper understanding of system edge cases – the very situations that, if left unaddressed, create costly field service calls.
Four operational benefits are:
- The nearly silent, gentle product transport helps minimize sample agitation and supports more consistent handling throughout the workflow.
- EtherCAT’s diagnostic capabilities and integrated engineering software toolchain simplify root cause analysis and shorten troubleshooting time.
- The modular approach enables tailored deployments – from benchtop cells to production‑scale orchestrated lines – and keeps core control templates and electrical designs standardized.
- A lower total cost of ownership over the life of a machine, a critical consideration for capital‑constrained labs or for organizations rapidly scaling diagnostic capacity.
Figure 9 video: Above, see the Beckhoff XPlanar at work, integrated with Biosero’s modular laboratory automation. Courtesy: © Beckhoff, 2026
Automation and control for the cure
For Biosero, the work carries deeper meaning beyond project milestones. Engineers on the team regularly hear and share stories about the human impact of the labs and workflows they help automate. Michelle Talarico, Biosero’s CFO, said, “It’s amazing to see how new technologies like these support scientific advances that ultimately contribute to improved healthcare outcomes and literally save patients’ lives,” she says. “Modern lab automation helps scientists reach their research outcomes faster and fail faster to help them realize when they need to change course sooner. It speeds up the entire process.”
The human stakes add urgency to an engineering mission. Lucius Kemp, Biosero scientific director, said that precise transport and timing can mean the difference between success and failure for time‑dependent biological processes.
“We need to move these delicate samples through time-sensitive steps as efficiently and safely as possible,” Kemp said. The magnetic motion control system “gives us those capabilities in an end-to-end solution,” he said. “The ability to autonomously transport maglev movers with microplates directly to lab instruments is a big plus.”
The two automation providers expect to continue improving validation workflows to ensure that orchestrated systems meet the documentation and audit demands of regulated biotech manufacturing and clinical environments. The two companies’ collaborative model – starting with early design work, tiered engineering resources, and hands‑on field support – has added value when supporting complex automation projects and a practical advantage when customers must integrate new systems into tightly regulated processes.
The systems combine open, developer‑friendly toolchains with breakthrough motion control technology from a vendor that would support highly flexible lab automation designs.
For Biosero, that interoperability is not an abstract benefit; it’s the infrastructure that enables the orchestration software to operate like a translator between the lab’s instruments and the lab’s researchers in the field. Biosero’s engineering approach has produced a lab automation platform that is gentle on research samples, consistent in results, and easier to changeover and integrate across instruments. By combining orchestration software capabilities with the magnetic motion system, engineering software and EtherCAT networking technologies, Biosero created a repeatable architecture that helps laboratories scale automation while maintaining flexibility, traceability and long-term adaptability. The technological collaboration literally carries the weight of clinical research and its outcomes.
Shane Novacek is Beckhoff USA marketing communications manager. Edited by Mark T. Hoske, editor-in-chief, Control Engineering, Arrowfly, [email protected].
Keywords
Motion control, machine design, lab automation
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