Practical electronics and robotics for chemists

Abstract

To the Editor — McCluskey and colleagues recently emphasized the importance of computers and coding in chemical education¹. I propose that efforts to enhance programming skills should be complemented by teaching chemistry students the fundamentals of electronics and robotics. Although it is imaginable to address such skill gaps with collaborations, they are often hard to establish and maintain, owing to the unavailability of potential collaborators, or their lack of interest in chemistry-oriented projects, as well as the requirement to obtain dedicated funding support. Thus, it is helpful for chemists to possess additional skills that can complement their chemistry knowledge. Also, knowing the basics of non-chemistry techniques and therefore knowing what is potentially possible when using them can fuel the imagination, enabling chemists to envisage how electronics and robotics can be implemented in a chemistry setting.

A multitude of electronic modules are available nowadays that can readily be integrated into chemistry-related experiments^2,3,4. These include monitoring reaction conditions (temperature, humidity, pH, pressure, gas concentrations, light absorption) using simple sensors, triggering large analytical instruments, acquiring data, and controlling pumps and valves using relays. Ley and co-workers popularized the use of microcontrollers and single-board computers in the monitoring and control of chemical reactions⁵, while Cronin and co-workers presented robotic systems for chemical synthesis⁶. A dedicated journal HardwareX (https://www.hardware-x.com) regularly publishes designs of instrumentation that can enhance chemistry procedures (among others), for example an open-source autosampler⁷ or a 3D printed chemical synthesis robot⁸.