Experimenting with robotics as a new urban infrastructure

越来越清楚的是，机器人将成为未来城市和城市基础设施设计、规划和运营的一个组成部分。这在无人驾驶汽车和无人机的发展中表现得最为明显，但机器人在货物运输和人员管理方面还有更广泛应用的潜力。此前，机器人在城市公共领域的使用一直受到技术限制和对人类安全的担忧的制约。然而，随着技术的发展和政府认识到潜在的社会和环境效益，这种情况正在迅速改变。由于2019冠状病毒病，以及机器人在减少人类接触的情况下提供基本商品和服务的潜力，人们对城市机器人的兴趣无疑有所增加。在公共领域使用机器人可能会带来巨大的公共利益，但也会引起社会和道德方面的担忧，比如就业影响、扩大监视和社会控制，尤其是当机器人与面部识别和侧写相结合时。人们对城市机器人的兴趣越来越大，但到目前为止，对更广泛的城市影响的研究还很有限。拟议项目的目的是通过在英国和国际上开展城市机器人发展的新研究来填补这一研究空白。因此，该提案是一个国际领先的为期30个月的研究项目，以帮助了解城市机器人的潜在影响，并在城市机器人发展的关键阶段为公共政策和学术研究提供所需的知识。这包括支持英国城市机器人技术和服务的发展，将社会科学和机器人工程联系起来，并了解创新是如何通过现实世界的测试机会形成的。研究将包括(i)国际城市机器人的研究和发展的回顾；（ii）详细分析英国城市机器人创新的背景，（iii）美国（旧金山）、澳大利亚（布里斯班）和日本（横滨）城市机器人实验的案例研究；（四）有组织的政策支持和提高认识方案。这项研究将导致一本具有里程碑意义的书和其他出版物，这将有助于定义和发展这一新的重要的跨学科研究领域。

It is becoming clear that robotics will be an integral part of the design, planning and operation of future cities and urban infrastructure. This is most evident in the development of driverless cars and drones, but there is potential for a much broader application of robotics in the delivery of goods and the management of people.The use of robots in the public realm of cities has previously been constrained by technological limitations and concerns about human safety. However, that is changing rapidly as technology develops and governments recognize the potential social and environment benefits. Interest in urban robotics has certainly increased because of COVID-19 and the potential of robotics to provide essential goods and services with reduced human contact. There could be significant public benefits from using robotics in the public realm but also social and ethical concerns about employment impacts and extended surveillance and social control, especially when robotics is combined with facial recognition and profiling. There is growing interest in urban robotics but so far the research on wider urban impacts has been limited. The aim of the proposed project is to fill that research gap by undertaking new research on the unfolding development of urban robotics in the UK and internationally. The proposal is therefore for an internationally leading 30 month research project to help understand the potential impacts of urban robotics and provide the knowledge needed to inform public policy and academic research on urban robotics at this critical phase in its development. That includes supporting the development of urban robotic technology and services in the UK by linking social science and robotic engineering and understanding how innovation is shaped by opportunities for real world testing. The research will include (i) a review of international urban robotic research and development; (ii) detailed analysis of the context for urban robotic innovation in the UK, (iii) case-studies of urban robotic experiments in the USA (San Francisco), Australia (Brisbane) and Japan (Yokohama); and (iv) a structured programme of policy support and awareness-raising. The research will lead to a landmark book and other publications that will help define and develop this new and important field of interdisciplinary study.