LTM-SOLA - a service-oriented application to integrate high-tech laboratories and virtual knowledge spaces

High-tech laboratories are an important kind of knowledge source, nevertheless most of today´s laboratory architectures consist of tight coupled devices with proprietary interfaces. Although there are several approaches to implement cross-functional and heterogeneous infrastructures, these solutions do not consider high-tech laboratories. Therefore, we developed a service-oriented architecture for laboratories called LTM-SOLA, an application to control the devices by a modern Web interface based on JavaEE and Seam technologies. Furthermore, we show how to use field bus couplers instead of programmable logic controllers (PLC) to enable single laboratory devices to be used in different test environments.