Reverse robotics: Interactive machines for controlling people in a complex laboratory environment

The synthesis of carbon-11 radiopharmaceuticals is a bimodal process. Because of the need to handle Curie levels reliably within about one half-life, shielded automata perform a sequence of well-defined microchemical manipulations. But maintaining such machines requires human attention, complex perceptions and decisions accompanied by distractions, unforseen demands and changes of schedule and priority. This exposes the whole process to the chance of serious error and contributes to job stress. A flexible, interactive dialog readily written in an object-oriented language such as Hypertalk can significantly ease this stress and manage the required documentation as well. A bar-code reader that emulates keyboard input helps insure the accuracy of the documentation and provides additional feedback to the program about the actions of the person