Skip to content

Home

Jump to bottom
Sparkles the Unicorn edited this page Oct 10, 2026 · 6 revisions

MicroLab Development

Welcome to the MicroLab development wiki. This is where you can find the latest status details and priorities for the MicroLab and its features.

The MicroLab is a DIY controlled lab reactor (CLR) that you can build with 3d printed and off-the-shelf parts for less than a thousand dollars.

Current Status

As of release v1.0.5, the MicroLab's base features are complete. This means it can stir, maintain temperature, and add reagents at appropriate times according to a pre-programmed recipe file.

A major goal of this wiki is to provide details on planned features so that (1) replicators can easily see what's possible with the current version and (2) hardware and software developers can easily find the next priorities to work on.

Roadmap

MicroLab roadmap of major features for the next 2 versions. V 1.1: “Hello World” recipes complete, Open source reagent pumps, International BOMs, Printable / DIY alternatives for all scarce parts, Atmosphere control. v1.2: Raspberry Pi optional, Recipe repo launched, Auxiliary software suite complete and integrated, Optimized off-the-shelf parts list.

The image above shows the planned features for each MicroLab release up to version 1.2. There are no timelines as this is a volunteer project - it moves when contributors move it. More details about the features in the roadmap can be found in the requirements pages below.

MicroLab Requirements

There are several sets of requirements for the MicroLab:

  • Chemistry requirements - What a chemist will want from the machine. These are the big-picture requirements that relate to the chemistry it will ultimately support.
  • Software requirements - Priorities for UX, software reliability, i18n, and other software priorities.
  • Hardware requirements - Priorities for hardware design, printed part design, and BOMs.

Recipe Requirements

This section is preliminary. As of October 2025, there are a handful of published MicroLab recipes in development for synthesizing active pharmaceutical ingredients. Metformin has been successfully synthesized in a MicroLab and verified analytically. As of the dissolution of the collective in Fall 2026, we have not established firm operational limits for the temperature control system or the recommended thermal pumps.

Full Recipes

A complete recipe will entail the following:

  • README
    • Overview of the API, its applications, and its synthesis
    • Required MicroLab features and tolerances (temperatures and solvents!)
    • Contraindications, compounding overview, tips, tricks, and other details
  • Research
    • Literature related to the API's clinical applications
    • Literature related to the API's synthesis
    • Literature related to the API's compounding
  • Synthesis
    • Documents about the synthesis pathways for the API
  • Recipes
    • MicroLab recipe file(s)
  • Verification
    • Documents related to verifying the API
    • Various analytical methods
  • Compounding
    • Documents related to compounding, storing, and ingesting the API

Auxiliary Software Requirements

In addition to the MicroLab itself and its recipes, we also have a suite of auxiliary software. As of October 2025, this software can be used to plan chemical reactions (through ChemHacktica) and create MicroLab recipe files (through the recipe press). The long-term goals include:

  • Better integration between these applications.
  • A more complete experience for cataloging research, saving reaction pathways, and building MicroLab recipes.
  • Better UX generally
  • A configuration file generator)

Recipe Press Issues

Vinni Issues

Clone this wiki locally