Outlines the development of a fully automated unit for dyeing textile samples, in which a robot prepares the sample of textile, mixes the dye and applies the dye to the sample, without any human intervention. This system enables every parameter in the dyeing process to be strictly controlled and recorded to give absolute reproducibility of results. Describes the whole dyeing process and the programming of the system. Concludes that the unit has been operating for over a year now and gives benefits of labour saving, faster turnround time, has cut the cost of each dyed sample by a factor 4, as well as having environmental advantages such as consuming 80 per cent less water.