The Lab of the Future The importance of remote monitoring and control

摘要

Chemical laboratories and the equipment within them have changed very little over the last two centuries. However, the introduction of enabling technologies and their impact on current working practices is starting to redefine the laboratory environment. In this article the application of remote control software applied to real applications of flow-based synthesis are demonstrated and the related improvements in efficiency and safety discussed. The use of webcams to remotely monitor synthetic procedures is described along with the associated enhancements that can be achieved. We envisage that the integration of these techniques with portable devices such as mobile telephones will form part of the lab of the future.