Merge pull request #10 from OSLA-project/6-introduction

6 introduction

Author: dsmits

docs/assets/LARA_logo.svg

@@ -1,30 +1,42 @@
-# Welcome to MkDocs
+<figure markdown="span">
+![LARA logo](assets/LARA_logo.svg)
+</figure>
 
-Things to explain:
+# What is the LARAsuite?
+The LARAsuite is a freely and openly available collection of applications, libraries, databases and tools to plan, manage, 
+create, monitor and evaluate (automated) processes in the laboratory. It has been developed by Mark Dörr and Stefan Maak
+from the [LARA group](https://lara.uni-greifswald.de/team/) at the University of Greifswald.
 
-- What is the LARA suite
-- adaptation template
-- what are processes
-- what are workers
-- Things to reuse, things to implement
+The vision is to cover all steps of laboratory work in a uniform framework with standardized communication protocols and data formats (like SiLA2, AnIML). 
 
-## Pythonlab
-PythonLab is a Python framework for defining, parsing, and managing laboratory automation workflows. It allows you to write laboratory processes in Python syntax and converts them into executable workflow graphs.
+## The LARA workflow
+LARA tries to cover all aspects of a common laboratory workflow, starting from the planning of the experiments until the final presentation of the results.
 
+## The LARASuite architecture
+The LARAsuite is modular and consists of different components that can be used independently or together to create a complete laboratory automation solution.
 
-## Workers
-Worker_adaptation also needs to be custom.
-Worker calls steps through the wrappers, and returns the Observable object to orchestrator.
+<figure markdown="span">
+  ![LARASuite architecture](assets/architecture.png){ width="100%" }
+  <figcaption>Architecture of LARASuite</figcaption>
+</figure>
 
+The most important components are the following:
 
-## Wrappers
-Wrappers implement calls to actual sila servers. In worker the devices are still just conceptual. 
+### PythonLab
+The PythonLab package is a framework to define laboratory processes in python syntax. It converts the process 
+definitions into workflow graphs that can be used by the orchestrator and scheduler.
 
-## Sila servers
-Sila servers have 2 types of commands, one type is observable, other isn’t. If sila command isn’t observable, you have to fake the observable in the wrapper 
+### Orchestrator
+The orchestrator is the component that executes the workflow graphs created by PythonLab. It manages the execution of the processes,
+allocates resources, and communicates with the devices through the wrappers.
 
-## Config file
-Describes the capacity of the devices in your lab. This information is read by both the orchestrator and scheduler. 
+### Scheduler
+The scheduler is responsible for optimizing the execution of the workflows. It takes into account the availability of resources,
+the dependencies between tasks, and the overall goals of the laboratory automation.
+
+### Platform status database
+The platform status database keeps track of the status of all devices, labware, and substances in the laboratory.
+It provides real-time information to the orchestrator and scheduler. It also provides a UI to set the initial status of the lab.
 
 ## Disclaimer
 This documentation has been written with the help of AI. 

docs/assets/architecture.png

@@ -13,8 +13,13 @@ markdown_extensions:
           class: mermaid
           format: !!python/name:pymdownx.superfences.fence_code_format
 
+  - attr_list
+  - md_in_html
+  - pymdownx.blocks.caption
+
 theme:
   name: material
+  logo: assets/LARA_logo.svg
   features:
     - content.code.copy