Living labs for robotics and automation

Cities worldwide are becoming experimental sites for deploying new robotic and autonomous systems (RAS). The capabilities of these technologies for transforming urban infrastructure now blur the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres, extending their impact beyond factories into diverse applications affecting everyday urban life. However, the deployment and adoption of RAS technologies in cities will vary based on investment capacity and urban governance. By design, RAS selectively enhance the capabilities of individuals and groups, and lead to enclaves of premium service delivery. This paper calls for the use of urban living labs as a tool for co-designing approaches to manage the tradeoffs, conflicts, and unintended consequences of RAS deployment in cities in collaboration with diverse stakeholders.

As rapidly aging societies face mounting impacts of climate change, robotics will be an essential tool for doing the work of adaptation. As frameworks for governing and managing equitable experimentation with urban RAS before more widespread, they will facilitate the creation and adoption of innovations with more benefits and fewer social costs.