Conducted by members of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory – a collaboration between Bristol University and the University of West England – the study aims to push the robotics industry towards more circular models. Currently, robots and robotic systems are not classed as e-waste at end-of-life, but the authors believe this is likely to change.
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The research asked experts from the robotics industry to develop a process to repurpose a robot from one utility to another, something the Bristol team believes is essential if robots are prevented from becoming e-waste. The work was originally presented at the TAROS (Towards Autonomous Robotics Systems) Conference in London last year and has recently been published by Springer Nature.
“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 remanufacturing 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.”
The study describes a method for repurposing robots, analysed against other commonly used processes in the design and development of robotic systems. A Delphi Study methodology was used by the team – a method regularly used in medical and social sciences - which the authors showed could be successfully implemented for future thinking forecasting within engineering research.
“Alternative solutions, such as repurposing, face a variety of challenges before they can become readily implemented,” said McGloin. “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 which can be implemented by the robotics industry as it moves towards circular operating principles.”
The Bristol team will now further investigate industry attitudes towards e-waste, right to repair, and repurposing, alongside barriers to a circular economy in the robotics industry.
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