SOFIA (SiLA-compliant, Open source, Fast, Intelligent Application) is a reference implementation of a SiLA PMS Consumer. Project SOFIA promotes the development of open source laboratory automation tools.

SOFIA enable you to connect multiple SiLA-compliant lab devices to your virtual lab, share and discover SiLA lab devices in your network, execute SiLA Commands (e.g. move a robot, dispense a liquid) and get data (e.g. temperature, status, duration) from your lab devices, and collaborate and share in real time your protocols/methods runs with any other user in your network.

A video of SOFIA controlling a dispenser in the lab can be seen in the following link:

https://youtu.be/lelSgY8S-pM

SOFIA is an open source, cross-platform project that was developed as a proof-of-concept for the SiLA core principles: the “Lab of the Future”, a rapid innovation ecosystem connecting devices and people, and exchanging knowledge. SOFIA facilitates the future open source development of more advanced functionalities of a SiLA PMS, such as a error handling, scheduler, workflow engine, device management, etc.

SOFIA could potentially be developed into an on-demand laboratory services hosted in the cloud, where user can run real-time experiments in remote labs across the globe.

To install and run SOFIA, you first need to install git, node.js (v0.12.2+), npm (v2.7.4), and meteor (v1.1). The "run.js" script will run only in node.js version 0.12 or higher (check in the terminal your version with "node -v").

The following commands are tested and working in Linux (Ubuntu 14.04) and Mac OS X. The "run.js" script doesn't run in Windows (yet), althought SOFIA is fully compatible for Windows. A new "run.js" will be created soon to allow the installation in Windows.

1. Download SOFIA:

git clone https://github.com/ebastidas/sofia-sila-pms.git

2. Run SOFIA:

cd sofia-sila-pms/
node run.js

SOFIA will run locally now at http://127.0.0.1:3000/ in your browser, and will be able to connect and control SiLA lab devices/drivers only in the same local IP (running in different ports).

If you need to communicate to SiLA lab devices/drivers hosted in different IPs (for instance, a Dispenser is located at 192.168.0.2, a Robot is located at 192.168.0.3), then you can run SOFIA as follows with environmental variables (SOFIA_IP and SOFIA_PORT) that specifies the IP and port of the machine where SOFIA is currently running (for instance, 192.168.0.1):

env SOFIA_IP=192.168.0.1 SOFIA_PORT=80 node run.js

SOFIA will run now at http://192.168.0.1:80/ in your browser, and will be able to connect and control all the SiLA lab devices/drivers within your local network.

You need to update your NodeJS version to (v0.12.2+), if you get the following error running the file run.js:

child = spawn(command, [ 'install', '--prefix', __dirname + '/consumer/event
TypeError: undefined is not a function

• Instructions to install SOFIA in Windows

Copyright (c) 2015 Erick Bastidas | wega Informatik AG