Autonomous Titration for Chemistry Classrooms: Preparing Students for Digitized Chemistry Laboratories
2020
The digitalization of the economy is one of the drivers of the fourth industrial revolution. This
trend is already heavily permeating biology laboratories and rapidly moving into chemistry as
well. Notably, automated laboratories enhance process quality and intensification while freeing
researchers from repetitive tasks. With these societal changes in place, students need to be
prepared for the advanced digitization of chemistry and science by teaching fundamental
chemistry concepts in combination with emerging Industry 4.0 technologies, including
programming and automation. We describe an undergraduate classroom exercise at the
interface of chemistry, computer science and engineering based on the development of an
autonomous titration platform. Following an inquiry learning ansatz, the exercise focuses on
standard titration experiments which are first executed manually, then automatically and finally
in full autonomy by a student-designed robotic platform. We demonstrate that the exercise
introduced in this work enables students to learn fundamental concepts in analytical chemistry,
naturally integrates basic aspects of programming and automation, and as a consequence
promotes and reinforces the detailed understanding of experimental processes and
measurements. The exercise is designed in a collaborative active learning framework to
encourage complex critical thinking and creative problem solving and thus prepares students for
the next-generation chemistry laboratories.
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