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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - INBOTS (Inclusive Robotics for a better Society (INBOTS))

Teaser

Summary

New robotic technologies have promised to facilitate, assist, augment or supplement our work and daily life. This evolution of robotics implies a closer physical, cognitive and emotional interaction with humans in a broad range of application domains. These rapid technological developments are expected to revolutionise our society. The changes will create new opportunities for people, but will also create new dangers and responsibilities that need to be elucidated and contained. Furthermore, the rapid advances in robotics make it difficult for the general public to completely understand the state of the technology, which creates negative perceptions and overestimated expectations that should be clarified.

Therefore, the main challenge that INBOTS wants to overcome is the lack of a clear understanding and communication between all the involved stakeholders. These limitations hinder current efforts to successfully discuss and agree on the many important technical and non-technical aspects in the field. Therefore, with the purpose of optimising the outcomes of the coordinate and support action, INBOTS will focus mainly on Interactive Robots, which we define as any robot that is interacting in close proximity with humans.

In this context, the overall objective of this project is to create a community hub that can bring together experts to debate and create a responsible research and innovation paradigm for robotics. To this end, INBOTS provides a platform to establish a working synergy between four pillars that covers all stakeholders in Interactive Robotics: the technical expertise pillar, the business expertise pillar, the ethical, legal and socio-economic (ELSE) expertise pillar, as well as the end-users, policy makers and general public pillar. Therefore, the project strives at coordinating and supporting actions aimed at building bridges among these pillars to promote debate and create a responsible research and innovation paradigm that will potentiate EU leadership on robotics.

Work performed

The work of INBOTS has been divided into seven measurable, specific objectives that corresponds to the Work Packages 1-7:

WP1: Promote entrepreneurship and nontechnical support to SMEs.The Consortium collected economical information about two specific fields of the IR: wearable robots (WRs) and humanoids service robots (HUMs). Specific interviews with members of SMEs and a systematic review of the main companies have been carried out to provide a market analysis. Other aspects have been taken into account: Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) aspects, business models targeted to highly innovative companies, funding methods as well as best practices in the exploitation of IR products. All these outcomes have been collected in the Preliminary Report on Interactive Robotics market analyses and support tools for SMEs (D1.1).

WP2: Promote debate on legal, ethics & socio-economic aspects. Efforts have been made to set the basis and start the dialogue to develop new approaches to assess interactive robots liability, insurance and risk-management. A review of current European and national IP laws has been made. The impact of digitalization on the labour market was assessed. A follow up of the international tax trends regarding the digital economy has been made. First steps have been taken to analyse the present scenario regarding ethical concerns related to robotics acceptance. All these aspects have been included in the Preliminary Report on Interactive Robotics\' legal, ethics & socio-economic aspects (D2.1).

WP3: Promote highly-accesible and multidisciplinary education programs. The SoA regarding robotic education in schools, universities and beyond the educational system resources has been analysed. A preliminary synthesis of such analysis has been reported in the Preliminary Report on Interactive Robotics\' education programs and learning activities (D3.1). This document provides both a synthesis and discussion on the research results, and a series of lists and tables with links to the specific tools and resources. Furthermore, the main sectors influenced by interactive robotics have been identified.

WP4: Coordinate standardization and benchmarking. A baseline research of standards and a survey was conducted. Next, standardisation gaps were identified. The consortium defined groups to better classify and understand the overlaps between the different application areas of interactive robots. The importance of standardising certain aspects of interactive robots was discussed. All these outcomes have been collected in the Preliminary Report (D4.1).

WP5: Propose a regulatory & risk management framework. Specific European directives and national regulations about standardization, product safety certification and liability rules have been analysed. Different standards applicable to interactive robotics have been identified. Structural contact with the relevant European and national authorities, as well as with experts in robotics regulation has been established. The Preliminary report on Interactive Robotics regulatory and risk management framework (D5.1) offers a first identification and assessment of national and EU regulations applicable to Interactive Robotics.

WP6: Promote societal and socio-economic uptake of robotics. The best practises in relation to the TRLs and the demand in terms of affordability, usefulness, relative advantage, feasibility, attractiveness and novelty were identified. Pictures and video clips describing new robot applications mainly in the health care sector was presented at four focus groups with participants managing, caring, teaching and receiving health care. The result of the focus groups had the function of deepening the understanding and knowledge of attitudes and preferences among these user groups, which in turn fertilized the theoretical analysis of best practises.

WP7: Organise dissemination & robotics community outreach activities. The project website was designed and launched at the beginni

Final results

The expected impacts that this project will imply are the following:

- Collaboration between diverse robotics communities
- Higher level of European involvement in global robotics regulatory policy and standardmaking
- Lower non-technical market barriers to robotics market readiness and take-up
- Increase the uptake by entrepreneurs and end users
- Engagement if community and non-technical experts
- Measurable evolution in the public awareness and understanding of robots
- Increase public and private investment interest in robotics technology