Abstract: A method for determining states of a laboratory automation device includes: receiving a log file from the laboratory automation device, the log file including entries of events that occurred during a procedure performed by the laboratory automation device, wherein the events have been created by components of the laboratory automation device and each entry includes at least an event time and an event type; providing a state machine of the laboratory automation device, the state machine encoding states of the laboratory automation device and transitions between the states, wherein each transition is starting at a state and points to another state and wherein each transition is associated with an entry scheme in the log file, the entry scheme including at least an event type; setting a current state of the laboratory automation device to a beginning state; moving through the entries of the log file along increasing event time and associating the entries with the current state; during the moving, when an entry s