I do think that inexpensive liquid handling robots will make a big difference if they are used correctly. The expensive Hamilton robots are closer to ~$100k-$15

I do think that inexpensive liquid handling robots will make a big difference if they are used correctly. The expensive Hamilton robots are closer to ~$100k-$150k and require a ~$20k-$30k service contract per year. The opentrons robots are $4k total. That kind of price difference is a PhD-level scientist's salary. But you don't want to buy a cheap robot and soak up someone's time troubleshooting it. To effectively use something like an opentrons robot, you need a still-rare breed of scientist, someone who's both relatively competent at programming and also talented at the bench. This kind of person will become more and more common, but they are currently hard to find. Meanwhile, opentrons is working hard to lower the programming barrier-to-entry, but they're a ways off still.