The robotics industry should be creating robots that can be reprogrammed and repurposed for other tasks once their lifespan has been completed, University of Bristol and University of West England researchers have advised.
Their study challenges individuals working in the robotics industry and in academia to consider the long-term use of a robotic system and, wherever possible, to repurpose robots to avoid recycling or long-term storage.
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With only 17 per cent of all electronic waste correctly recycled globally, researchers argue it’s essential that academia, designers and manufacturers understand the limitations of recycling an electronic product at the end of its life, and instead consider the other options possible to move products towards a circular economy.
‘Regardless of being in industry, academia, or the general public, we are all aware of the growing piles of e-waste produced around the globe,’ said Helen McGloin from Bristol’s School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology. ‘This research took experts from across the robotics field and ask them to create a new process to repurpose robots. Similarities were seen between this process and established processes for developing new systems and the re-manufacturing of used systems. However, unique steps within the repurposing process highlighted the value of challenging the expectations of considering robots e-waste at the end of their useful life.’
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Currently, robots and robotic systems aren’t classed as electronic waste (e-waste); however, the authors have previously argued that they meet current definitions and will therefore be likely to be included in the scope of e-waste in the future. With this classification will come additional scrutiny of the robotics industry and the way it designs and plans end-of-life for electronic robotic products.
As with other electronic products, there are and will be a variety of options for what to do with a robot when it reaches the end of its primary life. Currently, many businesses, research centres and universities ‘hibernate’ their robotic electronic waste – where e-waste is stored for a period without being used.
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‘Levels of electronic waste are growing annually around the globe, and the introduction of new robotic products in homes, schools and workplaces will only add to this problem in the near future,’ McGloin said. ‘While recycling or storing robots may seem like an easy option to tackle electronic waste, it is so often mismanaged that alternatives must be sought. Alternative solutions, such as repurposing, face a variety of challenges before they can become readily implemented. This includes economic and environmental viability, and attitudes of both consumers and businesses towards second-hand systems. The aim of our research is to assess these challenges and provide creative solutions that can be implemented by the robotics industry as it moves towards circular operating principles.’
This study is part of a wider programme of research led by members of the Ethical & Sustainable Futures team at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory – a joint facility between the University of Bristol and the University of West England. It presents a process for repurposing robots, analysed against other commonly used processes in the design and development of robotic systems. The study used a Delphi Study methodology – a method regularly used in medical and social sciences, which the authors demonstrate can be successfully implemented for forecasting within engineering research.
The authors will now investigate further industry attitudes towards e-waste, right to repair and repurposing, alongside barriers to a circular economy in the robotics industry.
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The research has been published in Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems.