Abstract
As autonomous robotics transition from experimental technologies to becoming integrated in public spaces, they introduce risks that can directly impact human safety and public trust. With robotics becoming more capable, widespread, and integrated in society, developing waste collection devices that can effectively navigate complex, limited-space environments is important to prevent environmental and public health issues. Failures in the technical performance or governance of these systems can result in accidents, loss of public trust, or environmental harm. My STS research examines how gaps in legal and ethical frameworks allow harmful outcomes to occur without clear accountability following the integration of autonomous robotics in society. My technical research focuses on developing a versatile waste management device that can traverse different environments to collect and transport waste. Both my STS and technical research attempt to address the issue of safely, responsibly, and ethically integrating robotics into complex public environments where they can directly impact humans. My waste collection robot serves as a case study for how these systems would encounter accountability gaps and governance challenges identified in my STS research.
The problem my technical research investigates is to design a waste collection device that can navigate a model city with varying terrains to collect, transport, and dispose of waste and recycling materials into the correct facilities. As cities grow and become more complex, managing waste efficiently can become challenging due to accessibility restrictions, limited collection resources, and inefficient sorting and recycling systems. These problems can result in pollution and improper waste disposal which can lead to greater environmental and human health challenges. To address this, my team designed a compact waste collection device capable of navigating complex terrains and gathering, organizing, and disposing waste and recyclables into the correct facility. My teammates and I analyzed research on effective waste management systems implemented in cities, as well as robotic sorting systems and automated collection systems developed by different waste management companies. Through repeated trials in a model city, we refined our device and analyzed its ability to navigate different terrains, as well as its collection and dumping accuracy. We found that a robotic system capable of combining mobility, collection, and disposal could improve the efficiency and adaptability of waste management systems.
My STS research investigates how accountability failures with autonomous robotics, due to gaps in legal and regulatory frameworks and lenient development guidelines, can lead to public distrust and potential harm. I analyzed current laws and regulations for autonomous robotics in different countries, as well as case studies on how accountability was distributed in cases where harm occurred. I found that many existing frameworks rely on outdated, human-centered liability models that fail to distribute accountability between developers, operators, and the deployers of these autonomous technologies. This led to inconsistent rulings for who was assigned accountability in the wake of an accident involving autonomous robotics. Another finding was that governance frameworks are largely reactive, resulting in regulations implemented only after incidents occur, allowing ethical risks to become embedded during design and development that become uncovered once these robots are deployed. I found that governance methods anticipating potential risks, ethical oversight, and a more structured and rigorous design and development process is necessary before autonomous robotics should be deployed into society.
Overall, I was successful in contributing to the solution of this problem through my STS and technical research. My technical research demonstrates how robotic systems can be designed for efficient and sustainable use in complex environments, while my STS research identifies the current issues with robotic governance and suggests ways to mitigate risks through proper oversight, anticipatory governance, and ethical development. However, my work is limited in that my technical research does not fully integrate governance mechanisms identified in my STS research, meaning that while the system designed is effective, it still would operate under the same unclear accountability structures that currently govern robotics. Future researchers should focus on bridging this gap by embedding ethical development practices and anticipatory governance measures into engineering processes from the beginning. This could include fail-safes to allow for changes following their deployment or accountability tracking if any harm occurs.
I would like to thank my capstone team; Aubrey Carley, Virginia Fleming, Gracelin Jones, Danny Leipzig, and Charles Nowicki for the effort and time they devoted to our project. I would also like to thank Caitlin Wylie for her guidance throughout the STS portion of this project. Finally, I would like to thank my capstone advisor, Michael Momot, for his advice and knowledge during the technical portion of this project.
