arXiv AI By Zahra Ayar, Marcos Penedo, Mahdi Mehdikhani, Nahid Hosseini, Prabhu Prasad Swain, Georg E. Fantner

Agentic AI for operating scientific instruments for nanoscale characterization

Read the original on arXiv AI →

The paper introduces an agentic-AI framework that autonomously operates an atomic force microscope (AFM) by integrating a large language model with instrument functions via the Model Context Protocol. Three MCP-based agents—AFM Messenger, AFM Pilot, and AFM Doctor—translate natural‑language instructions into commands, assess and adjust image quality, and diagnose artifacts with transparent post‑processing, respectively. Benchmarking shows that the guarded execution layer eliminates wrong‑command execution, and live experiments demonstrate that the AI matches expert operators in image quality and efficiency.

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