Opentrons Flex Gets Protocol Visualization Tool to Simulate Robotic Lab Workflows Before Execution
Opentrons Labworks, a provider of lab automation technologies, now offers Protocol Visualization for Opentrons Flex, a new simulation and visualization capability within the Opentrons software environment that allows for the simulation and visual inspection of robotic protocols in a virtual environment prior to running them on a Flex system.
The simulation enables users to observe pipette movements, liquid handling actions, labware positions and module status throughout an automated workflow.
With Protocol Visualization, an inspection layer has been introduced between AI-generated experimental plans and robotic execution, enabling users to step through each action of a protocol before it runs on a robot. Researchers can navigate workflows step by step or move quickly across the entire timeline to examine how robotic actions will unfold.
Simulation and visualization are supported for protocols authored across the Opentrons’ software ecosystem, including OpentronsAI, the Python Protocol API and the Protocol Designer application.
"AI can now design experiments and generate robotic protocols, but researchers still need to understand how those experiments will execute in the physical world," said James Atwood, CEO of Opentrons. "This capability gives researchers a dynamic way to simulate and inspect robotic execution before an experiment begins, creating a clearer bridge between computational design and physical laboratory workflows. As AI systems propose more experiments, researchers need infrastructure that makes those experiments understandable, inspectable and repeatable before they reach the bench."
This new capability will be available through Opentrons App version 9.0, scheduled for release in April 2026.
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