Abstract
Humans have always tried to automate processes, both to make work easier and to get
more done with less. Over the past half-century, this desire has resulted in robotics becoming a
growing field which is having a larger and larger impact on humanity. My Science, Technology,
and Society thesis investigates the impact that industrial robotics has had on American industrial
workers; lessons learned here can be applied to future cases, such as the rise of Artificial
Intelligence, where a new technology results in a large shift in the national job market. My
technical report discusses the creation of a protype robot built to support programming and
Embedded Systems courses as an educational aide; this robot can be mass produced for
classroom use, enabling every student to utilize programming and experimenting with a robot in
their educational process.
Through economic data correlational analysis, my paper shows the economic impact of
industrial robotics on the wider labor market has been minimal, but has harmed low skill workers
while benefitting high skill workers. It has additionally caused wellbeing and social harm to the
impacted low skill workers. Actor Network Theory analysis shows a shift of power away from
the low skill workers and towards factory owners and high skill workers, as well as how low skill
and medium skill workers have been marginalized. History puts this current day issue into the
wider context of past industrial revolutions, and shows that industrial robotics is just another step
in trying to create more product with less resources. Policy shows the ways that society and
government can respond to it, such as with: automation taxes to increase the cost of automation,
reworking the taxation system to properly capture value created by robots, reskilling programs to
help impacted industrial workers move to other careers, and doing nothing from a government /
societal level.
The paper shows the impact of industrial robotics is real and does have some detrimental
impacts. While the situation is not a crisis, work should still be done to alleviate its worst effects;
this should be done both from a humanitarian standpoint, as well as to see what policy works and
what policy does not, so society can better handle potential layoffs caused by the rise of
Artificial Intelligence.
The technical project centers on the creation of a pedagogical robot that empowers
students to program specific robotics applications and observe their code run in real-time in the
physical world. Two versions of this robot were designed: one interfaced with the TI
MSPM0G3507, and the other interfaced with the STM32-G070RB using an adapter board.
Instructors have the flexibility to choose their preferred board.
The primary audience of this project are Electrical Engineering / Embedded Systems
professors who want a hands-on classroom tool to teach the fundamentals of embedded
programming, students who want to learn more about embedded design, and beginners who want
an interactive method of being introduced to programming. The robot has multiple features and
sensors to allow the user to explore multiple aspects of embedded programming. For instance,
the infrared sensors on the robot allows students to learn about analog signals while the
Bluetooth module gives more advanced students a chance to explore wireless communication
protocols.
Specifically, our deliverable for this project is two separate printed circuit boards (PCB).
One PCB interfaces with the chassis of the robot and the TI board. The other PCB is an adapter
board for the STM microcontroller. McDap Bots has also supplied software solutions for each
version of the robot, which allows every feature of the robot to be easily used. Finally, McDap
bots has provided example applications for the robot that showcase the robot's multiple
functionalities.
These two projects when combined investigated the major components of robotics: the
social-economic impact it has, how it works technically, the good that comes from it, and the bad
that comes from it. The key takeaway I learned from this was that robotics, like many
technologies, it not inherently good or bad, but amplifies the goals of those who wield it; a
technical educator who applies robotics to their classroom creates a new, engaging learning
opportunity for their students, while a factory owner who wields robotics uses it to reduce the
number of low skill and medium skill employees needed for operation.
