# Slides - IWBDA2020 Lab Automation - Problem Area 1.2 - DRAFT FOR EDITING
[Slides - IWBDA2020 Lab Automation - Problem Area 1.2](https://hackmd.io/OBGAYRJtQkKkMJsqtl3JXQ)
# 🍒 CERISE 🍒
**C**herrypick **E**fficient **R**educed **I**nstruction **S**et **E**ngine
CERISE is a project to optimize biolab robot instruction sets.
Starting from a cherry-pick list, we want to output a reduced instruction set that can be executed by a robot.
Cherry-picking lists are "universal" and can be interpreted by most platforms.
They can be generated both manually and algorithmically.
Today, researchers write most cherry-picking lists by hand in spreadsheet software.
Actions in a protocol are usually grouped and executed sequentially.
- ex. distribute the water and the master mix before the DNA.
We want to optimize these essential protocol steps in a reduced instruction set.
The engine will group the cherry-picking actions as instructions that minimize/maximize certain objective functions.
- ex: distribute the same reagent in one go, save time, save tips.
For our proof of concept, we will target the Opentrons OT-2 platform.
We have selected this platform because it is affordable, open-source, and widely-adopted.
Therefore it is accessible to the greatest number of labs possible.
We will implement the instructions on an open platform that is accessible by most labs: the Opentrons OT-2 platform.
Deliverables:
- Reduced instruction set
- See: Linked proposal for 'Testify' system
- Definition of the cherry-picking list schema
- Software to transform the cherry-picking list into instructions
- Instruction set implemented on one open platform: the Opentrons OT-2
## Links
- [IWBDA2020 Lab Automation Pitch Notes](https://hackmd.io/43yXR751QCylQfsZ6Kk7lw)
- [Autoprotocol](https://autoprotocol.org)
- [Opentrons](https://opentrons.com)
### Heilmeier Catechism
- What are you trying to do? Articulate your objectives using absolutely no jargon.
- How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?
- What is new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful?
- Who cares? If you are successful, what difference will it make?
- What are the risks?
- How much will it cost?
- How long will it take?
- What are the mid-term and final “exams” to check for success?
### Notes
- Jeremy
- I imagine that at minimum we can do this as something like a "TOC generator" type cli, where we run a `command --platform-flag target-document-to-rewrite`
::: info
meta cruft in case (a) naming the thing and (b) explaining the context of cherry pick lists are important
==X is a project to optimize the biolab robot instruction sets.==
==Liquid-handling robots used in research labs all read cherry-picking lists which are ==
==These lists allow the robots to complete much more mundane work than human researchers could, but they are very inefficient.==
:::