Standardization in Lab Automation: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:40, 29 August 2018

Revision as of 22:37, 16 February 2019

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{{Primary sources|date=December 2011}}

The '''SiLA consortium''' is a [[Non-profit organization|not-for-profit]] membership organization formed by software suppliers, system integrators and pharma/biotech companies. This consortium for '''Standardization in Lab Automation''' (SiLA), develops and introduces new device and data interface standards allowing rapid integration of lab [[Automation]] hardware and data management systems. Highly skilled experts of member companies contribute in SiLA′sSiLA's technical work groups. Membership is open for institutions, corporations and individuals active in the life science lab automation industry. The SiLA consortium provides professional training, support and certification services to suppliers and system integrators implementing SiLA compliant interfaces.

==Mission==

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==History==

Advancements seen on the home consumer electronics marked like [[USB]] or [[UPnP]] triggered the idea of applying a similar approach to the laboratory automation environment. Why was it possible to easily upload pictures from any digital camera on any computer but in the same time not even thinkable to replace a lab device (e.g.: a [[Shaker (laboratory)|Shaker]]) of one brand with a Shaker of a different brand? Analyzing the situation led to the conclusion that the incompatibility was a result of missing interface definitions. The idea of a standardized interface based on the Common Command Set (CCS) concept was born.

However, SiLA 1.x has some limitations: It is based on XML/Soap which is considered as outdated. Getting started with SiLA 1.x is not an easy process. This leadled to the proposition of a spin-off group of the SiLA consortium to develop a new standard: SiLA 2. Learning from SiLA 1.x and taking many concepts from it, SiLA 2 had the vision of being as accessible as possible. A major goal is to create a community working on the development of new Features.

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SiLA has defined about 30 device classes and a command library with about 100 commands. Commands range from mandatory commands that are needed to make transitions in the state machine, over required commands for the specific device class, to optional commands for which not every device in the device class might provide the functionality. In addition guidelines for the implementation of supplier-specific device commands and parameters are provided.

Some commands are applicable for almost every device class. For example, the commands SetParameter, GetParameter, ExecuteMethod are widely used. Also PrepareForOutput and PrepareForInput are common because they enable the transport mechanisms to transfer labware items from device to device. The mandatory commands include operations like Reset, Initialize, Abort and Pause. In addition also locking a device for exclusive use is provided.

==External links==