[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":284},["ShallowReactive",2],{"navigation":3,"/blog/purposely-broke-lab-donkey":91,"/blog/purposely-broke-lab-donkey-surround":265},[4,18,68],{"title":5,"_path":6,"children":7,"icon":17},"Docs","/docs",[8],{"title":9,"_path":10,"children":11},"Getting Started","/docs/getting-started",[12,14],{"title":13,"_path":10},"Introduction",{"title":15,"_path":16},"Installation","/docs/getting-started/installation","i-heroicons-book-open",{"title":19,"_path":20,"children":21,"icon":67},"Blog","/blog",[22,25,28,31,34,37,40,43,46,49,52,55,58,61,64],{"title":23,"_path":24},"The Most Expensive Failure Is Inaction","/blog/most-expensive-failure-inaction",{"title":26,"_path":27},"The Truth About Your Product Lives in What Customers Repeat","/blog/customer-truth",{"title":29,"_path":30},"Building a Company with Your Family Feels Like a Superpower","/blog/family-superpower",{"title":32,"_path":33},"It's the Little Things That Make the Difference","/blog/little-things",{"title":35,"_path":36},"Building a Startup Means Becoming an Expert in Whatever Today Demands","/blog/startup-expert",{"title":38,"_path":39},"The No-Code Myth in Lab Automation","/blog/no-code-myth",{"title":41,"_path":42},"From Consulting to Innovating: Our Journey into Lab Automation","/blog/consulting-to-innovating",{"title":44,"_path":45},"Success Is Everything We Did Not Put in the Statement of Work","/blog/success-statement-of-work",{"title":47,"_path":48},"Lab Automation Doesn't Scale Because People Don't","/blog/automation-doesnt-scale",{"title":50,"_path":51},"Automation Should Adapt To The Lab, Not The Other Way Around","/blog/automation-adapt-to-lab",{"title":53,"_path":54},"What It Really Takes to Build a Lab Automation Scheduler","/blog/build-lab-automation-scheduler",{"title":56,"_path":57},"What I Learned After Two Weeks of Conversations About Chemistry Automation","/blog/chemistry-automation-conversations",{"title":59,"_path":60},"We Purposely Broke Lab Donkey","/blog/purposely-broke-lab-donkey",{"title":62,"_path":63},"The Problem with Lab Automation Software","/blog/problem-with-lab-automation-software",{"title":65,"_path":66},"The Next Chapter for Lab Donkey","/blog/next-chapter-for-lab-donkey","i-heroicons-newspaper",{"title":69,"_path":70,"children":71,"icon":90},"Applications","/applications",[72,75,78,81,84,87],{"title":73,"_path":74},"Cell Line Development","/applications/cellline",{"title":76,"_path":77},"Genomics","/applications/genomics",{"title":79,"_path":80},"Drug Discovery","/applications/drugdiscovery",{"title":82,"_path":83},"Cellular Assays","/applications/assays",{"title":85,"_path":86},"Automated Chemistry","/applications/automatedchemistry",{"title":88,"_path":89},"Synthetic Biology","/applications/syntheticbiology","i-material-symbols-apps",{"_path":60,"_dir":92,"_draft":93,"_partial":93,"_locale":94,"title":59,"description":95,"image":96,"authors":100,"date":106,"badge":107,"body":109,"_type":259,"_id":260,"_source":261,"_file":262,"_stem":263,"_extension":264},"blog",false,"","Two scientists at the AstraZeneca BioVentureHub forced Lab Donkey into an error state on purpose so they could fix an instrument mid-run. That is what good lab automation should feel like.",{"src":97,"alt":98,"position":99},"/safwan-superman.jpg","Safwan in a Superman costume next to the Lab Donkey control center in the lab","top",[101],{"name":102,"to":103,"avatar":104},"Safwan HAK","https://www.linkedin.com/in/safwan-hak/",{"src":105},"/safwan.jpeg","2026-08-25T00:00:00.000Z",{"label":108},"Product Philosophy",{"type":110,"children":111,"toc":256},"root",[112,120,125,130,135,140,145,150,155,164,169,174,179,184,189,194,199,204,209,220,225,230,235,239],{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":115,"children":116},"element","p",{},[117],{"type":118,"value":119},"text","Two weeks ago, I was heading back to our LAB DONKEY lab at the AstraZeneca BioVentureHub when I decided to stop by another lab running Lab Donkey.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":121,"children":122},{},[123],{"type":118,"value":124},"I walked in and immediately saw red lights blinking across the bench.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":126,"children":127},{},[128],{"type":118,"value":129},"So, naturally, in my best Superman voice, I said, \"What's going on? How can I help?\"",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":131,"children":132},{},[133],{"type":118,"value":134},"Superhero complex. I know.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":136,"children":137},{},[138],{"type":118,"value":139},"Behind the confidence, I was panicking.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":141,"children":142},{},[143],{"type":118,"value":144},"They were running their newly minted 384-sample RNA extraction workflow, and the cost of a failed run is huge. Not just financially, but in samples, scientist time and all the work that went into getting to that point.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":146,"children":147},{},[148],{"type":118,"value":149},"We haven't had a lost run with LAB DONKEY in over 1.5 years, but that fear never completely goes away. Every new workflow, every update, every change introduces some level of risk, and somewhere in the back of my mind I'm always thinking: is today the day?",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":151,"children":152},{},[153],{"type":118,"value":154},"Then the scientist leading automation in the lab turned to me, smiled, and said:",{"type":113,"tag":156,"props":157,"children":158},"blockquote",{},[159],{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":160,"children":161},{},[162],{"type":118,"value":163},"\"Don't worry, Saf. We purposely broke LAB DONKEY.\"",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":165,"children":166},{},[167],{"type":118,"value":168},"Heartbeat back to normal.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":170,"children":171},{},[172],{"type":118,"value":173},"Obviously, I needed him to explain.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":175,"children":176},{},[177],{"type":118,"value":178},"While the run was going, they noticed that one of the instruments wasn't doing what it was supposed to do. So instead of letting the problem propagate through the workflow, they deliberately forced LAB DONKEY into an error state.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":180,"children":181},{},[182],{"type":118,"value":183},"They then worked directly on the instrument, adjusted the protocol so it would dispense correctly, made sure everything was behaving as expected, and when they were ready, they simply told LAB DONKEY to continue.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":185,"children":186},{},[187],{"type":118,"value":188},"And it did.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":190,"children":191},{},[192],{"type":118,"value":193},"As I walked back to our lab, slightly disappointed that Superman hadn't actually been required, I realised what I had just watched was much bigger than a successful recovery.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":195,"children":196},{},[197],{"type":118,"value":198},"I had watched two scientists confidently force an automation system into an error so they could fix a problem that had absolutely nothing to do with the automation itself.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":200,"children":201},{},[202],{"type":118,"value":203},"They weren't afraid of touching it. They weren't afraid of ruining the run. They didn't feel like the system was holding them hostage.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":205,"children":206},{},[207],{"type":118,"value":208},"They understood what was happening, they intervened, they fixed the science, and then they carried on.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":210,"children":211},{},[212,218],{"type":113,"tag":213,"props":214,"children":215},"strong",{},[216],{"type":118,"value":217},"That, to me, is what good lab automation should feel like.",{"type":118,"value":219}," Not something scientists are scared to interrupt.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":221,"children":222},{},[223],{"type":118,"value":224},"Something they trust enough to take control of when reality inevitably gets messy.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":226,"children":227},{},[228],{"type":118,"value":229},"I probably wouldn't recommend deliberately breaking your automation on a normal day in the lab. But watching scientists feel confident enough to do it? That was pretty special.",{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":231,"children":232},{},[233],{"type":118,"value":234},"Or, as my kids would say: That was sick.",{"type":113,"tag":236,"props":237,"children":238},"hr",{},[],{"type":113,"tag":240,"props":241,"children":245},"callout",{"icon":242,"target":243,"to":244},"i-mdi-linkedin","_blank","https://www.linkedin.com/posts/safwanhak_labautomation-laboratoryautomation-lifescienceautomation-share-7496502856183779328-M6Ch/",[246],{"type":113,"tag":114,"props":247,"children":248},{},[249,254],{"type":113,"tag":213,"props":250,"children":251},{},[252],{"type":118,"value":253},"Originally published on LinkedIn",{"type":118,"value":255}," — Join the conversation and share how your scientists handle the unexpected mid-run.",{"title":94,"searchDepth":257,"depth":257,"links":258},2,[],"markdown","content:3.blog:14.purposely-broke-lab-donkey.md","content","3.blog/14.purposely-broke-lab-donkey.md","3.blog/14.purposely-broke-lab-donkey","md",[266,267],null,{"_path":66,"_dir":92,"_draft":93,"_partial":93,"_locale":94,"title":65,"description":268,"image":269,"authors":272,"date":278,"badge":279,"_type":259,"_id":281,"_source":261,"_file":282,"_stem":283,"_extension":264},"This is not a funding announcement. It is a story update: where Lab Donkey is today, what has changed, and why we believe we have only scratched the surface of what it can become.",{"src":270,"alt":271},"/petia-next-chapter.jpg","The Lab Donkey team in lab coats pointing at the camera",[273],{"name":274,"to":275,"avatar":276},"Petia HAK","https://www.linkedin.com/in/petia-hak-4bb26a3/",{"src":277},"/petia.jpeg","2026-07-09T00:00:00.000Z",{"label":280},"Startup Journey","content:3.blog:16.next-chapter-for-lab-donkey.md","3.blog/16.next-chapter-for-lab-donkey.md","3.blog/16.next-chapter-for-lab-donkey",1790452498369]