RoboLab: providing remote access to a physical radiochemistry laboratory for teaching and training

RoboLab enables students to perform real radiochemistry experiments without being physically present in a laboratory. Remotely controlled experiments are accessed through a web interface to a physical laboratory. The laboratory equipment is interfaced to a computer that both controls the equipment and provides feedback to the web user. A generic software template, using a cloud service, was developed to facilitate easy communication between the web browser and the control system. The sixth and most recent RoboLab, aiming at the production and measurement of ^234mPa (T_1/2 = 1.16 min), has been successfully developed and implemented using this template. (author)