The Rapid Prototyping Laboratory (RPL) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory is helping undergraduate and graduate students prepare for future science careers by paving the way for automating lab work with robotics and AI in autonomous discovery. The lab is a bright, high-ceilinged room alive with the whir of robotic arms, the hum of 3D printers, and the gust of cooling fans, where young researchers program robots, test cameras and sensors, build virtual-reality models, and print new mechanical attachments.
