Scheduling software for high-throughput screening

Scheduling software determines schedules for concurrent processing of many microplates in robotic screening systems. This software allows easy reprogramming of different assays, increasing the flexibility and power of the robotic system. Job-shop scheduling has been the subject of study for several decades, but the scheduling demands of high-throughput screening impose unique constraints, Like most scheduling problems, no efficient algorithms exist for finding optimal schedules. Heuristic approaches can result in good suboptimal schedules, but for complex assays, user choices governed by properties of the assay affect the efficiency of valid schedules. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.