The robotics industry should be creating robots that could be reprogrammed and repurposed for other tasks once its life span is completed, University of Bristol and University of West England researchers have advised.
The robotics industry should be creating robots that could be reprogrammed and repurposed for other tasks once its life span is completed, University of Bristol and University of West England researchers have advised.
The study, published today by Springer Nature, aims to challenge individuals working in the robotics industry and in academia to consider the long-term use of a robotic system and, wherever possible, to repurpose robots to avoid recycling or long-term storage of these systems.
With only 17% of all electronic waste correctly recycled globally, researchers argue it is essential that academia, designers and manufacturers understand the limitations of recycling an electronic product at the end of its life, and instead consider the other options possible to move products towards a circular economy, meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns).
In this research experts from the robotics industry were asked to develop a process to repurpose a robot from one utility to another.
Read more at University of Bristol
Photo Credit: Pexels via Pixabay
