Biofoundry Architect 1.0: A Robot-Assisted Module Configurator and Workflow Designer with Hub Interoperability and Throughput-Workflow Economic Evaluation
Abstract Laboratory automation has rapidly advanced across chemistry, materials science, and the life sciences, enabling high-throughput and predictive experimentation. In synthetic biology, biofoundries facilitate Design−Build−Test−Learn cycles through automated workflows but remain limited by software tools lacking integration and throughput-workflow economic evaluation. Here, we present Biofoundry Architect 1.0, an open, web-based platform for designing, evaluating, and comparing automated workflows using robot-assisted modules (RAMs). The system enables quantitative assessment of performance metrics, including the turnaround time and cost, while ensuring workflow compatibility and scalability. By supporting modular design, interoperability, and community-based sharing of workflows, Biofoundry Architect bridges the gap between planning and execution, improving efficiency, accessibility, and collaborative innovation in laboratory automation. This web-based Biofoundry Architect software can be viewed at https://biofoundry-architect.streamlit.app/, and all code is released under the license GNU General Public License version 3.
Authors
- Han Min Woo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8797-0477)
- Yu Been Heo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5457-9126)
- Jun Sung Park (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7149-6769)
Institutions
- Sungkyunkwan University (KR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Synthetic Biology
- Published
- 2026-08-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.6c00456
- Primary Topic
- Machine Learning in Materials Science
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Research Foundation of Korea