Pharma & Process · Hamilton VENUS
AutomatX Labs designs, programs and maintains Hamilton VENUS methods in HSL — with the error handling, deployment tooling and run integration that keep a liquid handler productive long after the method is written. A francophone VENUS specialist, also at home in English, for pharma, vaccine and biotech labs.
01What’s covered
A VENUS method is only as good as what happens when a tip fails to pick up, a plate is missing or an environment drifts. The work covers the method and the layers that make it dependable.
Method design and programming in the Hamilton Scripting Language — from a new assay to the optimisation of an existing method.
Robust error handling built in from the start, including manual-fallback strategies so a run can recover instead of being lost.
Environment setup and deployment automation, so every instrument runs the same, known configuration.
Controlling runs from other software through COM interop and Web APIs — replacing brittle UI automation — plus custom C# and Python tooling.
02How it runs
Start from the scientists’ protocol and the constraints it has to respect — labware, volumes, timing, and the validation it will face.
Program the method in HSL with error handling and recovery designed in, plus the tooling to deploy it consistently.
Roll out to the instruments, document the method and its recovery paths, and leave a codebase the team can maintain.
03FAQ
Both. Work ranges from designing a new method for an assay to optimising, troubleshooting and maintaining existing VENUS methods — including large HSL codebases, where a dependency analyser helps map what calls what before anything is changed.
Yes. Delivery is in native-level technical French or English (Dutch too), including documentation and training. That is a deliberate focus: deep Hamilton VENUS expertise delivered in French is scarce.
Both. AutomatX Labs is based in Lyon and works embedded on-site or remotely, as a project-based delivery or in an advisory role — across France, Belgium and the rest of Europe.
Yes. Run management can be integrated through COM interop or Web API approaches, which are more reliable than automating the VENUS user interface.
Methods are built to be maintainable, documented and validation-ready, and the same engineer can take them through qualification — see GMP validation & qualification.
Tell me what you’re building, what it has to pass, and where it currently breaks. You’ll get an engineer’s read on scope and the seams — not a sales pitch.