OLA is Open Lab Automata
Lab automation for everyone
Open Lab Automata is a community-driven open hardware project for laboratory automation. Its current reference platform, the MK3 Pipettin Bot, combines precise liquid handling, tool-changing, approachable software, and documentation designed for real-world reproduction.
- Availability
- Open hardware + manufactured
- Base range
- 2-1000 uL
- Interfaces
- Web UI + APIs + Python
The MK3 on the bench.
A precise, modular robot built around openness instead of lock-in.
Designed to lower the barrier
OLA exists to help more people automate laboratory processes without depending on expensive, closed platforms. The project centers on affordability, reproducibility, and independent study, with manufacturing rooted in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Hardware you can inspect, build, and buy
The MK3 is presented in the original page as the first OSHWA-compliant, commercially available, fully open pipetting robot, with documentation and design choices aimed at real adaptation.
Software for both operators and developers
Protocols can be executed through a web interface or from Python, including a protocol designer web app that keeps the system approachable for operators and developers alike.
Built on principles: flexibility, precision, and access.
Modular by design
Tool changing, adaptable mechanics, and interoperability inspired by the broader open science hardware ecosystem.
Open from hardware to docs
Open hardware, AGPL software, and growing documentation make independent builds and close inspection realistic.
Practical precision
Made for real liquid handling tasks with open hardware micropipettes from 2 uL to 1000 uL and support for more tooling.
Cost-aware engineering
Light, simplified mechanics and widely available parts target the gap between capable automation and inaccessible pricing.
A small platform with a complete stack.
Hardware
Open mechanical platform with simplified, robust mechanics, tool changing, and liquid-handling tooling built around widely available parts.
Software
Robot control, a protocol designer web app, and Python APIs intended for reproducible protocols and broader workflow integration.
Placeholder diagram: swap for architecture artwork or real UI and hardware callouts later.
For teams who need automation and true flexibility.
Research & Devs
Automate repetitive liquid handling while keeping the machine inspectable, modifiable, and locally understandable.
Education
Teach lab automation, mechanics, and protocol design on a platform that exposes how it works instead of hiding it.
Makers and Communities
Extend the platform, adapt tooling, and integrate it with other open science hardware projects.
Documentation for makers, operators, and contributors.
OLA is an open and independent project.
The project grew out of Gathering for Open Science Hardware and reGOSH communities, and it welcomes documentation improvements, development work, bug reports, testing, and financial support.