Robots have the potential to deliver very positive impacts for society, however, it's critical that in preparing for real-world deployments, we recognize and take steps to mitigate against the potential harms, both direct and indirect, that they may cause. In this paper, we explore how the ethics canvas (EC) and the ethical risk assessment (ERA) methodology defined in British Standard 8611 can be combined to better align robot technologies with ethics and their socio-cultural context of operation. We illustrate this through a practical case-study involving the real-world introduction of a disinfection robot to a radiology department in a European hospital. Using the EC, we identified 49 distinct ways that the technology was likely to impact key stakeholders and 11 ways that failure or misuse of the technology was likely to impact service provision. From this data, 8 mitigating measures were identified. Then, using the ERA tool, 9 risks were identified that were considered to represent a high likelihood of occurrence. From these insights, a further 8 mitigation measures were proposed. The combined use of both tools was found to be complementary, since the EC fostered a bottom-up, subjective critical thinking process whereas the ERA provided a broader, more top-down objective view. This example provides a practical template for robotics practitioners to better understand and manage the ethical and socio-cultural dimensions of their work, and contributes towards the standardization of ethical assessments in robotics with an emphasis on the move from principles to practice.

The use of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) technology as a means of disinfecting hospitals and other frontline settings has increased significantly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the science of UVGI is well established, it can be difficult to determine in practice if sufficient levels of UVC has been irradiated to kill the target microbes in a room. This research presents the development of a low-cost wireless UVC sensor that can be used to systematically track the UV irradiation dose on target surfaces during a UV disinfection procedure. We present key elements of the design of this device, which included a custom PCB, enclosure, operating software, and graphical user interface. The applicability of the system was assessed through an experiment where the devices were placed at 12 locations in a CT scan treatment room that was subject to a UVGI disinfection procedure using an autonomous UV robot. Over the course of three cleaning sessions, each lasting approximately 10 minutes, it was found that each site location received an average UVC dose of 13mJ/cm2, which is more than published D90 values for SARS-Cov-2, influenza, and a number of known pathogens that are commonly found in hospital settings. This study provides early validation of the potential effectiveness of low-power wireless UV level monitoring technology, which may form part of future distributed room sensing networks or as part of smart wearable devices carried by relevant hospital staff.

Socially assistive robots (SARs) have the potential to improve working conditions of care workers, empower vulnerable people to retain independence, and even provide social companionship. Through a series of focus groups, this study explores how older adults and professional care workers in a Continued Care Retirement Community (CCRC) perceived a bespoke SAR platform known as Stevie. Using a mixed-method approach, it emerged that both care staff and residents developed a strong fondness for the robot, perceived it to be useful, and could envision a range of useful applications.

Pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) have been researched for applications in powered exoskeletons, orthosis and robotics. Their high force to mass ratio, low cost and inherent compliance are particularly advantageous for systems requiring physical interaction with humans.Sleeve PAMs, which introduce an internal structure to the actuator, offer improved force capacity, contraction ratio, efficiency and operating bandwidth. In this paper sleeve PAMs are applied to a popular muscle configuration; that of a joint operated antagonistically by two muscles. It is shown that the sleeve PAM can increases the range of joint rotation by 14% or load capacity by over 50% of that of a comparable joint actuated with traditional PAMs, depending on the joint configuration. The stiffness of joints actuated with both PAM types is also studied, particularly the case of closed system operation (mass of air in the PAMs is constant), where the reduced volume of the sleeve PAM significantly increases the observed stiffness. Finally energy consumption is considered, showing substantial savings in the case of joints actuated with sleeve PAMs.

There is value in exploring new robot morphologies that combine the benefits of legged robots (i.e. high terrain adaptability, humanlike form factor) with those of wheeled systems (i.e. high stability, low energy consumption). Once the basic design concept has been demonstrated, there is a further requirement to validate the controllability of the system through adaptation and implementation of advanced control techniques. This research presents a motion planner that enables the Aerobot robot, an actively articulated wheeled humanoid robot capable of performing step climbing and gap crossing, to plan dynamically stable motion in response to a range of task conditions. Using a model of the robots kinematics, a motion planner is developed. The sequential quadratic program algorithm is used to solve quadratic objectives and non-linear constraints pertaining to stability and postural configuration adjustment requirements. The results showed good tracking of the robot's Zero Moment Point while transitioning between postural configurations and traversing obstacles. During these phase transitions, robustness in maintaining balance and position is also demonstrated via velocity control of the drive wheels.

Developing advanced robots can be a resource-intensive activity that creates many challenges for research teams. There is a need to formulate new techniques for systematically designing complex robot systems, especially in cases where high adaptability is needed and design metrics cannot be explicitly specified in advance. This research explores how the Goals/Questions/Metrics (GQM) method, a well-established technique for process measurement, can be modified for use as a design tool in robotics. To illustrate how a design-orientated GQM method may be used in practice, a sample use-case is given detailing how the approach was applied to the task of developing a bespoke robotic gripper for a service robot. The study provides an early indication that the adoption of GQM principles by designers can have significant benefits in robotics applications. However, further investigation is needed to better understand the magnitude and scope of any improvements.