Going further

Protocols and robots

GeneLoop can write a protocol, simulate it, and — if you point it at a robot on your network — upload and run it.

What is actually connected

Opentrons OT-2 and Flex, over the robot's own HTTP interface. That is the integration that exists; there is no support for other liquid handlers today.

From protocol to run

Write or generate the protocol
Either write it yourself as a protocol, or describe what you want in the chat and have one drafted.
Validate it
A structural check on the protocol itself — that it is well-formed and its steps make sense — before a robot is involved at all.
Simulate it
Run it against a simulator. This is where you find that a tip box is empty at step 40, or that two labware definitions collide on the deck. Both JSON and Python protocols simulate.
Check the robot
Query its current state — attached pipettes, modules, deck configuration — and confirm it matches what the protocol expects.
Upload and create a run
The protocol is transferred to the robot and a run is created, but not started.
Approve, then start
Starting a run needs your explicit approval, with the protocol and an estimate in front of you.
Watch it
Poll the run status while it goes. You can pause, resume or stop.

Physical actions always ask

Nothing physical happens without a separate, explicit approval. When the assistant wants to start a run you get a card showing the protocol itself, a checklist, and an estimate of how long it will take and what it will consume — with Execute, Refine and Cancel.

This holds regardless of which mode you are in. What needs your approval.

When it will not connect

Check the address from a browser: Open http://<robot-address>:31950/health from the same machine. If that does not respond, GeneLoop will not either — the problem is the network, not the integration.
Same network: The robot has to be reachable from where you are. A robot on a lab VLAN is often not reachable from the guest wifi.
Token: If your robot is configured to require authentication, the request needs the token as well as the address.

Exporting a protocol instead

If you would rather run it yourself

You do not have to connect anything. A protocol can be exported to run through the Opentrons app in the usual way, and there is a check of which platforms are supported before you export.

For a lab where the robot is not on a network you can reach, this is the sensible path: design and validate in GeneLoop, export, and load it at the instrument.

From protocol to run

Write or generate the protocol

Either write it yourself as a protocol, or describe what you want in the chat and have one drafted.

Validate it

A structural check on the protocol itself — that it is well-formed and its steps make sense — before a robot is involved at all.

Simulate it

Run it against a simulator. This is where you find that a tip box is empty at step 40, or that two labware definitions collide on the deck. Both JSON and Python protocols simulate.

Check the robot

Query its current state — attached pipettes, modules, deck configuration — and confirm it matches what the protocol expects.

Upload and create a run

The protocol is transferred to the robot and a run is created, but not started.

Approve, then start

Starting a run needs your explicit approval, with the protocol and an estimate in front of you.

Watch it

Poll the run status while it goes. You can pause, resume or stop.

Physical actions always ask

This holds regardless of which mode you are in. What needs your approval.

When it will not connect

Check the address from a browser

Open http://<robot-address>:31950/health from the same machine. If that does not respond, GeneLoop will not either — the problem is the network, not the integration.

Same network

The robot has to be reachable from where you are. A robot on a lab VLAN is often not reachable from the guest wifi.

Token

If your robot is configured to require authentication, the request needs the token as well as the address.

Exporting a protocol instead

If you would rather run it yourself

You do not have to connect anything. A protocol can be exported to run through the Opentrons app in the usual way, and there is a check of which platforms are supported before you export.

For a lab where the robot is not on a network you can reach, this is the sensible path: design and validate in GeneLoop, export, and load it at the instrument.