Bristol study calls for circularity in robotics
New research has highlighted the need for robots to be reprogrammed at the end of their initial use to avoid them adding to the e-waste crisis.
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.
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.
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