Experiment at BESSY II. Photo credits: HZB
ROCK-IT (Remote, Operando Controlled, Knowledge-driven, and IT-based) is a Helmholtz funded project that aims to develop all necessary tools for the automation and remote-access of in-situ and operando catalysis experiments, for users of all experience levels. These include:
- Remote access for experimental users
- Experiment automation including the use of robots
- Data management
- Nearly realtime analysis and optimization using machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI).
The partners DESY, HZB, HZDR, and KIT collaborate their expertise to create an automated experiment environment that is tailor-made, yet applicable to a wide range of measurements. The outcomes of ROCK-IT will lead to more resilient, sustainable, and effective user operations.
The catalysis operando experiments, for which no automation exists so far, have been identified as a pilot development case within ROCK-IT. Optimizing catalysts requires evaluating a large parameter space of experimental and material conditions. Automating these experiments can significantly enhance the efficiency of the development workflow. Nonetheless, catalysts are prevalent in today's economy and play a pivotal role, particularly in our struggle against climate change.
Beyond catalysis research which serves to provide a concrete focus, ROCK-IT generates added value for Helmholtz as a whole: the interfaces, tools, and standards developed within ROCK-IT are being designed to be portable to other techniques and application domains, to serve the needs of other research fields.