Born-Qualified: An Autonomous Framework for Deploying Advanced Energy and Electronic Materials

TL;DR

This paper introduces a 'born-qualified' autonomous framework for material discovery that integrates manufacturability, cost, and durability constraints from the beginning to enhance industrial deployment success.

Contribution

It proposes a novel strategy embedding manufacturing considerations into autonomous material development, supported by multi-objective metrics, causal models, and modular infrastructure.

Findings

Framework improves alignment with industrial viability metrics

Multi-objective metrics guide more practical material discovery

Modular infrastructure facilitates integration of manufacturing constraints

Abstract

Autonomous science is transforming how we discover materials and chemical systems for advanced energy technologies. However, many initially promising systems never reach deployment. This "valley of death" stems from optimization that prioritizes laboratory metrics over industrial viability. We propose a new strategy: "born-qualified" autonomous development, which embeds manufacturability, cost, and durability constraints from the outset. This approach is enabled by four pillars, including the development of multi-objective metrics, causal models, a modular infrastructure, and embedding manufacturing in the discovery loop. Realizing this vision will require sustained, community-wide commitment, but the potential return on that investment is commensurate with the scale of the challenge.