The BioRobotics Institute is home to world-class research facilities, instruments, and equipment. These facilities offer fully equipped mechanical, electronic, and additive manufacturing workshops, along with advanced biological, chemical Labs and a clean room, state-of-the-art microscopy and measurement equipment, and much more!

Download the updated brochure of equipment.

The Facilities are located in the Polo Sant’Anna Valdera (The BioRobotics Institute’s headquarters) and dispose of dedicated qualified staff available for training, supervision, and specialized consultancy.

The Mechanical Workshop provides precision machines for metallic, ceramic, and hard polymer prototyping — such as CNC machining, micro-wire and micro-sink electro discharge machining, conventional lathes, milling machines, band saws, and multisensory metrology tools.

The Electronic Workshop provides guidance and practical assistance for the design, development and assembly of advanced electronic components. The workshop includes multiple soldering and re-working stations, magnifiers and precision tools, and expertise for the assembly of advanced motor control, signal conditioning and acquisition systems, data transmission, low power wireless systems, and flexible electronics.

The Silicone and Polymers Prototyping Lab enables rapid development of soft materials through advanced 2D fabrication technologies, including screen printing, UV and hybrid laser marking, alongside a full suite of finishing tools for multi-material components.

The Additive Manufacturing Equipment enables multi-scale biohybrid prototyping—from nanoscale two-photon lithography to macro-scale extrusion and multi-material deposition—supporting complex soft robotics, tissue-engineered scaffolds, wearable devices, artificial organs, microfluidic chips, and high-fidelity functional prototypes with diverse biomaterials, including hydrogels, silicones, and advanced composites.

The Clean Room delivers controlled environments for micro/nano-fabrication, equipped with instruments for lithography, silicon micromachining, thin film sputtering, monomolecular layer deposition, plasma treatment, spin coating, profilometry, and chemical processing.

The Biological Lab supports cell culture, molecular biology, histology, and characterization of cellular models and 3D specimens, featuring biosafety cabinets, incubators, centrifuges, thermocyclers, microplate readers, spectrophotometers, cryostats, microtomes, blotting systems, and sterility systems.

The Chemical Lab supports comprehensive biomaterial synthesis, polymer processing, composite formulation, surface functionalization, and advanced wet chemistry workflows, equipped with precise instrumentation for thermal analysis, rheological characterization, interfacial property evaluation, environmental conditioning, and exhaustive material stability testing.

State-of-the-art optical, electron, confocal, and atomic force microscopes enable multiscale imaging of materials, devices, tissues, and nanostructures.

These core capabilities extend then into a network of specialized equipment and labs that together drive innovation from materials to human applications. The Textile Robotics Lab crafts smart textiles via computerized knitting and sewing. The Measurement and Testing Lab enables mechanical, thermal, rheological, fluidic, climatic, nanoindentation, and electrical characterizations. The Magnetic Lab explores magnetic properties of materials for microrobotics and advanced actuation systems. The Under Water Robotics Lab tests aquatic systems in experimental tanks, with high-pressure simulation and acoustic communication platforms. The Movement Analysis Lab assesses biomechanics with metabolic sensing, motion capture, and instrumented treadmills. The Brain Dysfunctions and Movement Disorders Lab provides equipment for multimodal neurophysiology and high-precision motion capture. The Molecular and Cell Biology Lab supports organoid culture and biohybrid tissue models, as well as mechanobiology research and microgravity simulation. The Robotic Medical Platforms encores translational efforts towards interventional systems such as endoscopy and magnetic navigation, surgery testbeds and circulatory simulators. The High-Performance Computing Platform supports GPU-accelerated modelling, machine learning, and large-scale data analysis.