Responsible innovation of autonomous robots in agriculture: towards more substantive inclusion and user-centred design

农业自主机器人的负责任创新：迈向更实质性的包容性和以用户为中心的设计

• 批准号: 2603014
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Reading
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2603014
• 关键词: Responsible; innovation; autonomous; robots; agriculture

A recent survey by a Scottish membership organisation found that 65% of farm businesses arere considering down-scaling operations due to the impact of COVID-19 (Migration Advisory Committee, 2020). The pandemic, combined with uncertainty over Brexit, is threatening the supply of migrant labour and thus the completion of vital tasks in the high-value crop sector (e.g. top fruit [apples etc.], soft fruit [strawberries etc.], and field veg [asparagus etc.]). The soft fruit sector alone is worth £1.5 billion in retail value and £450 million to farm businesses per year and vital tasks such as harvesting and packing of crops needs to be completed to ensure that businesses are productive and that food security in these healthy products is guaranteed. Farming also needs to reduce its carbon emissions, limit food waste and reduce chemical use.Autonomous robots in the high value crop sector potentially provides a solution to the lack of labour and these other issues. Electrification of robots can help with carbon emissions, precision technology can reduce chemical use, and autonomous machines may replace the work normally done by a human and improve food security of these healthy foods. Such technology is approaching high technology readiness levels and is being demonstrated on farms across the world. However, there are a number of social and ethical considerations of autonomous robots - such as impact on farm employment, cybersecurity, data ownership, bad consumer perception, and lack of safety - that may present barriers to adoption. We know from the history of agricultural innovation, particularly GM crops, that some technologies can fail because they are not designed in consultation with end users and other stakeholders.It has been suggested that responsible innovation principles can help. This asks technology developers to anticipate consequences of their technology, both good and bad, include a wide range of stakeholders in development, listen to these stakeholders views and changing design or course (reflexivity), and work with policy-makers to set an institutional framework (e.g. policy instruments, laws) that can help respond to new knowledge or views. There has been little, if any, empirical work that has investigated how to operationalize responsible innovation principles in the development of autonomous robots in agriculture. This PhD sets out to explore how stakeholders can be included in the best way, ensuring that inclusion is substantive instead of tokenistic, and then investigates how user views can be used to optimize the design of autonomous robots. The aim is to help roboticists understand how to incorporate response innovation principles into the design of robots that work for all stakeholders. Methods may include a structured literature review, surveys, interactive workshops, observation, citizen juries with stakeholders plus a social media analysis of user perceptions of robots, plus interviews and observation of roboticists involved in development. You will be working alongside cutting-edge projects (e.g. Reading/Lincoln "Robot Highways" project) which is demonstrating the application of autonomous robots in farm environments. You will also have access to the smart farming facilities of the Agri-EPI Centre (see below) where state-of-the-art robotic technologies are being developed and trialed.

苏格兰一个会员组织最近的一项调查发现，由于COVID-19的影响，65%的农场企业正在考虑缩小规模（移民咨询委员会，2020年）。疫情加上英国脱欧的不确定性，正在威胁移民劳动力的供应，从而威胁到高价值作物部门（如顶级水果[苹果等]，柔软的水果[草莓等]，和田间蔬菜[芦笋等]）。仅软水果部门每年就价值15亿英镑的零售价值和4.5亿英镑的农业企业，需要完成作物收获和包装等重要任务，以确保企业的生产力，并确保这些健康产品的粮食安全。农业还需要减少碳排放、限制食物浪费和减少化学品使用。高价值作物领域的自主机器人可能为劳动力短缺和其他问题提供解决方案。机器人的电气化可以帮助减少碳排放，精密技术可以减少化学品的使用，自动机器可以取代通常由人类完成的工作，并提高这些健康食品的食品安全性。这种技术正在接近高技术准备水平，并正在世界各地的农场进行示范。然而，自主机器人的一些社会和道德考虑因素-例如对农业就业的影响，网络安全，数据所有权，不良的消费者认知以及缺乏安全性-可能会阻碍采用。我们从农业创新的历史，特别是转基因作物的历史中知道，有些技术可能会失败，因为它们的设计没有与最终用户和其他利益相关者协商。有人建议，负责任的创新原则可以有所帮助。这就要求技术开发者预测其技术的后果，包括好的和坏的，在开发中包括广泛的利益攸关方，听取这些利益攸关方的意见和改变设计或路线（反思），并与政策制定者合作，建立一个有助于对新知识或新观点作出反应的体制框架（例如政策工具、法律）。很少有实证研究，研究如何在农业自主机器人的发展中实施负责任的创新原则。该博士学位旨在探索如何以最佳方式纳入利益相关者，确保包容性是实质性的，而不是象征性的，然后研究如何使用用户意见来优化自主机器人的设计。其目的是帮助机器人专家了解如何将响应创新原则纳入为所有利益相关者工作的机器人设计中。方法可能包括结构化的文献综述，调查，互动研讨会，观察，公民陪审团与利益相关者加上社交媒体分析用户对机器人的看法，再加上采访和观察参与开发的机器人专家。您将与尖端项目（例如阅读/林肯“机器人高速公路”项目）一起工作，该项目展示了自动机器人在农场环境中的应用。您还可以使用Agri-EPI中心的智能农业设施（见下文），在那里正在开发和试验最先进的机器人技术。