# AutoBio: A Simulation and Benchmark for Robotic Automation in Digital Biology Laboratory

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.14030 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.14030/

## Key facts

- Cited by 16 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Generalist VLA models and benchmarks, one of 13 directions in Vision-language-action models.
- Builds on 13 of its 23 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 20 May 2025.

## Placed in

- Vision-language-action models / [Generalist VLA models and benchmarks](https://mlsanity.com/vla/generalist-vla-models-and-benchmarks/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 13 of 13)

- [3D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Radiance Field Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.04079/) (2023)
- [RT-2: Vision-Language-Action Models Transfer Web Knowledge to Robotic Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.15818/) (2023)
- [OpenVLA: An Open-Source Vision-Language-Action Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.09246/) (2024)
- [π0: A Vision-Language-Action Flow Model for General Robot Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.24164/) (2024)
- [π0.5: a Vision-Language-Action Model with Open-World Generalization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.16054/) (2025)
- [Octo: An Open-Source Generalist Robot Policy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.12213/) (2024)
- [Meta-World: A Benchmark and Evaluation for Multi-Task and Meta Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.10897/) (2019)
- [RDT-1B: a Diffusion Foundation Model for Bimanual Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.07864/) (2024)
- [ManiSkill2: A Unified Benchmark for Generalizable Manipulation Skills](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.04659/) (2023)
- [PGSR: Planar-based Gaussian Splatting for Efficient and High-Fidelity Surface Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.06521/) (2024)
- [RoboTwin: Dual-Arm Robot Benchmark with Generative Digital Twins](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.13059/) (2025)
- [Factory: Fast Contact for Robotic Assembly](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.03532/) (2022)
- [Chemistry3D: Robotic Interaction Benchmark for Chemistry Experiments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.08160/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 16 of 16)

- [RoboTwin 2.0: A Scalable Data Generator and Benchmark with Strong Domain Randomization for Robust Bimanual Robotic Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.18088/) (2025)
- [WorldEval: World Model as Real-World Robot Policies Evaluator](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.19017/) (2025)
- [RMBench: Memory-Dependent Robotic Manipulation Benchmark with Insights into Policy Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.01229/) (2026)
- [RoboDojo: A Unified Sim-and-Real Benchmark for Comprehensive Evaluation of Generalist Robot Manipulation Policies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.04434/) (2026)
- [SpatialWorld: Benchmarking Interactive Spatial Reasoning of Multimodal Agents in Real-World Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.09669/) (2026)
- [Pipette: An Embodied Simulation Platform, Benchmark, and Data-Efficient Augmentation Framework for Wet-Lab Robotics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.12936/) (2026)
- [AtomBridge: Agentic VLA Inference Plugin for Long-Horizon Tasks in Scientific Experiments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.09430/) (2026)
- [ProtoAct: Turning Wet-Lab Protocols into Embodied Robotic Actions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.01690/) (2026)
- [RM-RL: Role-Model Reinforcement Learning for Precise Robot Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.15189/) (2025)
- [LabRobFail: A Benchmark for Robotic Failure Analysis in Chemical Self-driving Laboratory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.23704/) (2026)
- [Towards Trustworthy Embodied Intelligence: A Systems Framework and Graded Trustworthiness Levels](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.26121/) (2026)
- [GRAFT: Grounded and Efficient Online Reinforcement Adaptation for Fine-Grained Robot Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.27079/) (2026)
- [WetRobo: A Reproducible Robot Kit for Coding Agents in Biological Laboratories](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.18435/) (2026)
- [Grounded in Time: A Multi-Source Dataset and Benchmark for Temporal Grounding in Robotic Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.04255/) (2026)
- [LabInstruct: Benchmarking Situated Instructional Video Generation for Lab Procedures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.14020/) (2026)
- [Words to World: Benchmarking LLMs in Interactive Physical Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.15228/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Vision-language-action (VLA) models have shown promise as generalist robotic policies by jointly leveraging visual, linguistic, and proprioceptive modalities to generate action trajectories. While recent benchmarks have advanced VLA research in domestic tasks, professional science-oriented domains remain underexplored. We introduce AutoBio, a simulation framework and benchmark designed to evaluate robotic automation in biology laboratory environments--an application domain that combines structured protocols with demanding precision and multimodal interaction. AutoBio extends existing simulation capabilities through a pipeline for digitizing real-world laboratory instruments, specialized physics plugins for mechanisms ubiquitous in laboratory workflows, and a rendering stack that support dynamic instrument interfaces and transparent materials through physically based rendering. Our benchmark comprises biologically grounded tasks spanning three difficulty levels, enabling standardized evaluation of language-guided robotic manipulation in experimental protocols. We provide infrastructure for demonstration generation and seamless integration with VLA models. Baseline evaluations with two SOTA VLA models reveal significant gaps in precision manipulation, visual reasoning, and instruction following in scientific workflows. By releasing AutoBio, we aim to catalyze research on generalist robotic systems for complex, high-precision, and multimodal professional environments. The simulator and benchmark are publicly available to facilitate reproducible research.