Patent ID: 8041437
Filing Date: 2011-10-18
Classification: G05B

Abstract:
1. A system for virtual control of electronic laboratory equipment, comprising: a local computer system; one or more items of electronic laboratory equipment connected to the local computer system, each item of electronic laboratory equipment having a physical control panel including one or more displays or controls; a virtual control panel generation unit generating a virtual control panel accessible from a remote computer system, the virtual control panel being substantially similar to the physical control panel in appearance; and a command interpretation unit monitoring interaction between the remote user and the virtual control panel and generating electronic laboratory equipment commands for exploiting the functionality of the electronic laboratory equipment, wherein each of the one or more items of electronic laboratory equipment has a corresponding driver for controlling functions and interpreting output of the corresponding item of electronic laboratory equipment, and wherein the command interpretation unit characterizes instructions of the remote user for exploiting the functionality of the electronic laboratory equipment according to a level of risk and generates a dialog message of caution when the instructions are characterized as meeting or exceeding a predetermined level of risk.