Design for Responsible Robotics

Upon completing this Summer School, you will: 

• Understand what Responsible Robotics is, and how to design and develop robots that address the key principles of responsibility.

• Gain transferable knowledge of key design tools and creative thinking techniques to support your academic and professional growth.
• Learn about the cutting-edge developments in robotic hardware, software, and AI
• Understand key areas of modern robotic research and application through analysis of real-world case studies
• Acquire skills for academic research, translating ideas into solutions, and emphasising on solving real world problems using robotic technologies
• Explore the value of AI-driven innovation in applications of robotics
• Understand the balance between technological advancement and associated responsibilities such as ethics, sustainability, and policy making
• Learn about leadership styles and roles, and develop strategies to strengthen your leadership as a future innovator in both technical and professional development
• Experience the full creative design process from concept creation to rapid prototyping by addressing real-world challenges with robotic solutions
• Enhance your ability to communicate and present practical solutions effectively

The Dyson School of Design Engineering is the 10th and newest engineering department at Imperial College London. It was founded in 2014 and assisted by a generous donation from the James Dyson Foundation.  Design Engineering is the fusion of design thinking, and engineering knowledge and practice within a culture of innovation and enterprise, to help solve global problems with emphasis on sustainability, entrepreneurship and societal impact.

Interdisciplinarity and cross-cutting skills are an integral part of what differentiates the Dyson School of Design Engineering.  Design engineers weave together different disciplines, methods and ways of thinking for a uniquely multifaceted approach to solving complex problems. By being able to think both like engineers and like designers, and by engaging with expertise in mathematics, psychology, policymaking, business, and other fields, our students enter the world uniquely equipped to innovate effectively, lead responsibly, and manage the complexity inherent to product innovation and to tackling major global challenges.

The students on the Summer School will benefit from the interdisciplinary excellence of research and teaching, the interaction with real-world leaders in design, innovation, and enterprise, as well as practical prototyping capacities offered by the Dyson School of Design Engineering.

The programme consists of 60 contact hours spread over two weeks, delivered on weekdays through a combination of lectures, workshops, tutorials, project work, social activities, and relevant visits. Students will work in small groups on a team-based project under supervision, applying and reinforcing the skills introduced throughout the course.

The final project will be presented in groups to a panel of experts on the last day, with a prize awarded to the best team. The entire programme will be taught in English and will integrate studio-style workshop activities that enable students to directly apply their learning within the design for responsible robotics team project.

Robotics

Students will start building their core understanding through an Introduction to Robotics, covering the fundamental building blocks of modern robots and cobots (collaborative robots), as well as recent emerging trends. The most prominent of those is the emerging interdisciplinary field of Responsible Robotics, which is the robotics counterpart of Responsible AI, with overlapping concerns but also unique ones that arise from robots’ physical embodiment and ability to act in the real world. Students will learn about the need for responsibility in robotics, and actively explore topics in autonomy, privacy, unpredictability, and social impact of embodied AI. Physical Human-Robot Interaction and Safety will be showcased with live robot demonstrations that will allow students to experience firsthand the key principles of safe HRI. Through a mix of lectures, workshop discussions, and practical lab sessions, the students will gain insights into how to design, develop, and deploy robots (and intelligent autonomous systems more broadly) that are safe, ethical, and aligned with human values. As robotics systems become increasingly autonomous, the use of AI/Machine Learning for Robot Intelligence will lead to a number of important considerations in the design process that must be addressed, such as transparency, explainability, trust, and accountability.

Students will examine how to embed Human-Centered Design principles and Responsibility directly into the technical and design stages of robotic systems, ensuring that intelligent machines act in ways that enhance rather than undermine individual human wellbeing, and are overall beneficial to society. In other words, it asks design engineers not just “Can we build it?” but “Should we build it, and if so, how should it behave?”

Students will participate in an engaging Robot Ethics Debate activity, where they will be assigned roles (e.g. engineer, policymaker, user, ethicist) in order to debate an ethical dilemma of a fictional scenario (e.g. “a hospital incident where a robot harms a patient due to an AI perception error.”). The feasibility of implementing moral values in robots will be discussed, drawing comparison to Asimov’s laws of robotics.

Design and Innovation

This summer school will equip students with insights on robotics innovation and creative design through inspiring lectures and practical workshops.  Students will be introduced to evolutionary, revolutionary and experimental methods for design-led innovation modules such as data-centric, smart materials, etc., which echo their existing training in technology and engineering domains relevant to robotics, and provide further inspiration for innovation.

Combining Robotics with Design Thinking could inspire creative problem solving approaches, which navigate from theoretical research through solutions to practical real world problems. Students will benefit from learning about the latest development of research in creativity and innovation methods, as well as a selection of effective techniques to enhance their creativity in personal and professional capacity. In addition, students will gain real-life design experience in a fun and practical approach for team prototyping in a selection of themes, to enhance their understanding of design thinking and to search robotics-centric solutions to practical problems.

Students will also be introduced to the latest development in leadership, innovation and enterprise, with the focus on evolving interactions between innovators and systems.

Responsibility

Students, as future innovators, are encouraged to lead the change, but not subject to it. Students are challenged to explore the future impact of their present research and practice activities around robotics, and therefore, encouraged to think about the ethics, sustainability, and policy making around robotics.

Responsible Robotics and Design Engineering are deeply connected through their shared focus on shaping technology to serve human needs safely and effectively. Traditionally, Design Engineering emphasizes functionality, usability, and performance, but in the context of robotics—where systems are autonomous, adaptive, and physically embodied—these must be expanded to include ethical and social dimensions.

Working in small groups, students will discuss real-world challenges by applying robotics to small-scale physical tasks. On the final day of the summer school, each team will showcase their project to a panel of experts, followed by a Q&A session with feedback and discussion to deepen learning and reflection.