Congratulations on starting your journey with us! With Laboperator you can easily connect laboratory equipment, sensors, Connector Boxes, and other Devices of various manufacturers - and control them via an easy-to-use user interface. In the following article, we will give you a quick overview of how to get started and what you should know when using Laboperator.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Helpdesk structure
• Laboperator Introduction
• Collections and Resources
• Connector and Device Integration
• Workflows

Helpdesk structure

To support you in using Laboperator, we offer a structured support solution via Helpdesk to answer your questions promptly. Feedback and suggestions for articles are always welcome via feedback@labforward.io. Below, you will find a quick overview of the support documentation structure:

1. Getting Started
   • This folder gives a quick overview of the essentials, when using Laboperator for the first time, e.g. User Profile Settings, and signing in to Laboperator. Additionally, a glossary of important terms, as well as news concerning upcoming releases, can be found here. 
2. System Administration
   • This folder gives Administrators an overview of all relevant information to enable them to successfully manage Laboperator, e.g. how to Manage Users, assign Roles and Permissions, as well as change the details of the Organization (incl. theme settings, time format, etc.) 
3. Connector and Device Integration
   • This contains all the necessary information to connect Devices to Laboperator and details on how to set up Dashboards, which allow the monitoring of Device data.
4. Features/Resources
   • With the exception of Workflows, Connectors, Devices, and Dashboards, this folder provides an overview of all available Resources, e.g. Notification Settings, Webhook Subscriptions, Automation, etc.
5. Workflows
   • This folder contains an overview of Workflows, Workflows Templates, Workflow Runs, and how to develop a Workflow Template. Please note, for more complex workflows, please reach out to our Implementation Team via feedback@labforward.io.
6. API
   • To integrate third-party applications with the Laboperator ecosystem, Laboperator offers an extensive HTTP-based API. More information can be found in this folder.
7. FAQ
   • Most frequently asked questions, which are not answered in the other folders, are collected here.

Laboperator Introduction

Laboperator facilitates the control and data acquisition of individual Devices, the combination of different Devices in Workflows, and the monitoring of hundreds of Devices at the same time. The Device portfolio (for more information, please reach out to us through feedback@labforward.io) includes a constantly growing number of Devices that can be connected (“plug-n-play”). 

Laboperator itself is not an Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) or Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) system but rather serves to fill the gap between available ELN and LIMS products. Therefore it is classified as a Laboratory Execution System (LES).

It can be combined with our ELN, Labfolder (in the figure below marked as blue), as well as our LIMS, Labregister (in the figure below marked as green) and is available in the cloud as well as on-premises. With this product suite, you can set up and expand your own “Connected Lab”.

Collections and Resources

Collections are displayed as folders and provide a structure for content, which is referred to as Resources in Laboperator.

Laboperator offers different Resources to work with: 

• Measurements
• Dashboards
• Workflow Templates
• Workflow Step Templates
• Workflows
• Connector

Essentially, the basic actions (add, remove, move) work identically for all Resources. The approval for the respective actions is provided by the Permissions.

In the navigation menu on the left-side of Laboperator, you can find the Collections and Resources you have access to. Via the ADD button on the top left, Resources and Collections can be added to existing Collections, provided the necessary Permissions have been assigned.

Connector and Device Integration

With the respective Permissions, Devices can be connected to the Laboperator system either through the Connector Box (via cables) or the Virtual Connector (wireless connection), depending on the Device. Once your Connector is set up, it is visible as a Resource in Laboperator, and Devices may be attached to it, and Dashboards to monitor your Devices. 

Workflows

With the Workflow feature, sequences of complex execution steps can be visualized in the Laboperator user interface and consequently executed. By acquiring instrument data and combining it with manual actions and other events, Workflows in Laboperator serve as an intermediate between Devices and step-by-step instructions. The data can be passed on for further analysis to our data management systems Labfolder, our ELN, or Labregister, our LIMS. In this way, you can use Laboperator throughout your experiment, from inception to its conclusion. 

Workflows are defined and detailed in Workflow Templates, which can be instantiated via their execution as Workflow runs. Workflow templates are written by our Implementation Team as YAML files, and once uploaded, exist as Resources in a Collection and can be executed. If you need assistance in setting up a Workflow, please reach out to our Implementation Team through feedback@labforward.io.