Artificial intelligence (AI) is being introduced to the complex and time-consuming development of new materials, and a change in the new materials development paradigm is expected.

The Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS) has unveiled ‘Autonomous Lab,’ a full-cycle automated research system based on artificial intelligence (AI).

We will drastically shorten the material experiment cycle that previously took months or years, and fully launch material independence and digital R&D innovation through collaboration between AI and robots.

KIMS Autonomous Lab is a cyclical research platform where AI designs experimental conditions, robots perform them, and AI analyzes the results to move on to the next experiment.

Human researchers only need to input simple commands into the computer and the entire experiment will proceed automatically without touching the experimental equipment.

This can reduce errors in repetitive experiments and maximize efficiency in terms of time and cost.

A cutting-edge research environment where AI, robots, and experimental equipment are connected is realized through the process of a robotic arm picking up a metal sample and performing linked operations with an arc melter (a high-temperature metal melting device), a tube furnace (heat treatment equipment), and an X-ray diffraction (XRD).

The core of the Autonomous Lab is in the following: △AI-based automatic recommendation of experimental conditions △equipment automation and robot handling △real-time data analysis and iterative optimization structure.r />
AI selects the most likely conditions from thousands of combinations, and robots perform precise work throughout the entire process, including sample production, heating, and analysis.

This data is analyzed in real time and reflected in the next experiment, enabling increasingly sophisticated designs, much like reinforcement learning.

KIMS expects that through this, it will be possible to significantly increase research efficiency in high-difficulty new material fields such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, hydrogen energy, defense, space, and eco-friendly materials.

Above all, it is significant in that it complements the problem of manpower shortage and is an autonomous platform that allows even low-skilled personnel to perform advanced experiments.

In the future, researchers plan to advance the autonomous lab into a digital twin laboratory, multimodal AI linkage, and large-scale data disclosure. In particular, the combination with multimodal AI technology that can integrate and analyze various types of data such as images, numbers, and experimental values is expected to open up new possibilities for material development.

KIMS President Choi Chul-jin said, “The Autonomous Lab is a core platform for securing Korea’s material technology sovereignty beyond simple research automation,” and added, “We will strengthen the competitiveness of the country’s cutting-edge industries through the convergence of AI and material technology.”