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IFAC PapersOnLine 52-25 (2019) 131–135
Robo-Ethics
A Survey of developments in theRobo-Ethics
field and their implications for social effects
P. Kopacek.
A Survey of developments in the field

and their implications for social effects
P. Kopacek.
P. Kopacek.
TU Wien, Institute for Mechanics and Mechatronics, IHRT
Favoritenstrasse 9-11/E325 A4,for  Wien.(e-mail:kopacek@ihrt.tuwien.ac.at)
A –Mechanics
1040
TU Wien,
TU Wien, Institute
Institute for Mechanics and Mechatronics,
and Mechatronics, IHRT
IHRT
Favoritenstrasse 9-11/E325
Favoritenstrasse 9-11/E325 A4,
A4, A
A –– 1040
1040 Wien.(e-mail:kopacek@ihrt.tuwien.ac.at)
Wien.(e-mail:kopacek@ihrt.tuwien.ac.at)

Abstract: Robotics unifies two disciplines: Science and humanities. The effort to design roboethics
should
Abstract:make the unity
Robotics of these
unifies twotwo disciplinesScience
disciplines: a primaryandassumption.
humanities.ThisThemeans
effortthat
to experts shall view
design roboethics
roboethics
Abstract:
Robotics asRobotics
a whole -unifies
in two
spite ofdisciplines:
the currentScience
early and
stage humanities.
which recalls aThe effort
melting to
pot. design
should
should make
make the the unity
unity of of these
these two
two disciplines
disciplines aa primary
primary assumption.
assumption. This
This means
means that
that experts
experts shall
shall view
view
Robotics
Robotics
Some as a whole
as a whole
decades -
ago -social in spite
in spite of the
of the
aspects current
of current early
roboticsearly stage
werestage which recalls
which recalls
discussed. a melting
a melting
Because pot.
of thepot.
results and the rapid
development
Some decades of ago
this field ethical issues became more and more important. Therefore the term roboethics
Someintroduced
was decades in agothesocial
social aspects
aspects
literature. The
of robotics
ofmain
robotics
goal
were
were
of this
discussed.
discussed.
contribution
Because
Because
is to
of
of the
theand
present
results
results
discuss
and
and the
the
this
rapid
rapid
subject,
development
development of
of this
this field
field ethical
ethical issues
issues became
became more
more and
and more
more important.
important. Therefore
Therefore the
the term
term roboethics
roboethics
probably at the first
was introduced
introduced in thetime,
the from the
literature. Theviewpoint
main goalof of
goal robotics.
this contribution
contribution isis to
to present
present and
and discuss
discuss this
this subject,
subject,
was in literature. The main of this
probably
probably at
at the
the first
first time,
time, from
from the
the viewpoint
viewpoint of
of robotics.
robotics.
First an overview from a practical, robotics viewpoint will be given including an outlook on Production
4.0
First(5.0). Then a short
an overview
overview from presentation of currently and inwill
the future available robots and some on ideas about
First
the an
ethical problems from areaa discussed.
practical, robotics
practical, robotics
Special
viewpoint
viewpoint
emphasis will
is on
be given
be given
the
including
including
ethical behavior
an outlook
an outlook
of the on
system
Production
Production
“human-
4.0 (5.0).
4.0 (5.0). Then
Then a short presentation
presentation of of currently
currently and
and in
in the
the future
future available
available robots
robots and
and some
some ideas
ideas about
about
robot”
the and “Endaofshort Life –discussed.
EoL” management.
the ethical
ethical problems
problems are are discussed. Special
Special emphasis
emphasis is is on
on the
the ethical
ethical behavior
behavior ofof the
the system
system “human-
“human-
© 2019,and
robot”
robot”
Keywords: IFAC
and “End
“End (International
Robots, of Life
Life –– EoL”
of Production Federation
EoL” of Automatic
management.
management.
Automation, Control)
Ethics, Social HostingEoL.
Aspects, by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Robots, Production
Keywords: Robots, Production Automation,
Automation, Ethics,
Ethics, Social
Social Aspects,
Aspects, EoL.
EoL.

 systems. Currently there are worldwide approximately 2,3
1. ROBOTS 
million working
systems. in industry.
Currently there areWith a 7th and
worldwide 8th axis they can
approximately 2,3
1. ROBOTS systems.
be limitedCurrently
movable there are
to extend worldwide
the aworking approximately 2,3
Fig.
1. 1 shows an overview on currently or in the future
ROBOTS million
million working
working in
in industry.
industry. With
With a 77th
th and
th
and 88space.
th
th axis
th
axis
They
they
they
are
can
can
available robots.an“Unintelligent”, stationary or
industrial robots nowadays
be equipped
limited movable
movable to with
to extend simple
extend the external
the working
working space. sensors
space. They for
They are
are
Fig.
Fig. 1
1 shows
shows aninoverview
overview on currently
on systems or in
in the
currentlyequipped the future
future be limited
are used mostly production with NC “intelligent” operations
nowadays equipped
equipped with e.g. assembly
with simple
simple external and disassembly,
external sensors
sensors for
for
available
available robots. “Unintelligent”,
robots. “Unintelligent”, stationary
stationary industrial
industrial robots
robots nowadays
(numerical controlled), machines as well as in CIM fuelling cars…operations
“intelligent” and are called
e.g.“intelligent”
assembly robots.
and disassembly,
disassembly,
are used
are used mostly
mostly in
in production
production systems
systems equipped
equipped with
with NC
NC- “intelligent” operations e.g. assembly and
(computer
(numerical integrated) - or ims (intelligent manufacturing) fuelling cars…
cars… and
and are
are called
called “intelligent”
“intelligent” robots.
robots.
(numerical controlled),
controlled), machines
machines as as well
well asas inin CIM
CIM fuelling
(computer
(computer integrated)
integrated) -- or
or ims
ims (intelligent
(intelligent manufacturing)
manufacturing) --

Fig.1 Categorization of Robots (Kopacek 2018)

Fig.1
Fig.1 Categorization
Categorization of
of Robots
Robots (Kopacek
(Kopacek 2018)
2018)

2405-8963 © 2019, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Peer review under responsibility of International Federation of Automatic Control.
10.1016/j.ifacol.2019.12.460
132 P. Kopacek / IFAC PapersOnLine 52-25 (2019) 131–135

Mobile robots could be divided in three categories. “classic” technologies there is currently a trend to develop “Single
mobile robots are partially intelligent mobile platforms. As purpose” humanoid robots like for parcel delivery.
“Autonomous Guided Vehicles – AGV`s “ they are available
since some years in industry and equipped with additional
2. PRODUCTION 4.0
external sensors (Intelligent Autonomous Guided Vehicles –
Intelligent AGV`s) covering a broad application field. Production 4.0 combines production methods with state-of-
Movement possibilities are wheels, chains…… . Intelligent the-art information and communication technology. The
industrial and mobile robots are used for service tasks – driving force behind this development is the rapidly
“service robots” „Service robots“ are mobile robots adapted increasing digitization of the economy and society. It is
for service tasks: like for personal use - e.g. cleaning robots, changing the future of manufacturing and work. In the
lawnmowers, for healthcare e.g. assistance for tradition of the steam engine, the production line, electronics
handicapped, for leisure and hobby, e.g. game playing, sports and IT, smart factories are now determining the fourth
( soccer,…). industrial revolution.

“Advanced” mobile robots are currently in development and The technological foundation is provided by intelligent,
exist mostly as prototypes. Some of them will be discussed digitally networked systems that will make largely self-
later. managing production processes possible: In the world of
Production 4.0, people, machines, equipment, logistics
Walking machines or mechanisms are well known since systems and products communicate and cooperate with each
some decades. Usually they have more than 6 (snake), 4 other directly. Production and logistics processes are
(multiped) to 6 (hexapod) , 2 (biped) or one leg (hopping) integrated intelligently across company boundaries to make
degrees of freedom (DOFs). Walking on two legs is from the manufacturing more efficient and flexible. It is driven by:
view point of control engineering a complex stability
problem. Biped walking machines equipped with external Rise in data volumes
sensors are the basis for “humanoid” robots. Some prototypes
of such robots are available today. Computational power

One of the current trends in robotics is cooperation. Industrial Connectivity

robots are connected by their controllers for synchronisation
Virtual to real world data transformation
or controlled by one controller. Latest developments deal
with a modularization of the robots as well as the control
system and collaborative robots (Cobots) for a save One of the main goals of production 4.0 are “Smart
cooperation with humans. Factories”. They beginning to appear and employ a
completely new approach to production. Smart Factories
Mobile platforms with external sensors are available since allow individual customer requirements and the dynamic
some years and cover a broad field of new applications. They business and engineering processes enable last-minute
are the basis of mobile robot platforms. On such platforms changes to production.
various devices, like arms, grippers, transportation These smart products are
equipment, etc., can be attached. uniquely identifiable,
may be located at all times
Possible applications including tele-operation or semi- know their own history and the current
autonomous operation of robot platforms in various scenarios status
could be: factory automation: operation in hazardous able to find alternative routes to achieving
environments, planetary and space exploration, deep-sea their target (final) state
surveying and prospecting, services….

Biped walking robots are much more flexible than robots 3. ROBOTS IN PRODUCTION 4.0
with other movement possibilities. The main advantage of
legged robots is the ability to move in a rough terrain without Clearly this new automation philosophy requires highly
restrictions like wheeled and chained robots. Legged robots cooperative industrial, mobile and probably in the future
can work in environments which were until now reserved humanoid robots – a so called multi-robot system.
only for humans. Especially fixed and moved obstacles can A multi-robot system is a distributed system that consists of a
be surmounted by legged robots. In addition to walking such collection of autonomous computers, connected through a
robot could realize other movements like climbing, network and distribution middleware which enables them to
jumping… Intelligent robots – especially intelligent, mobile coordinate their activities and to share the resources of the
platforms and humanoid robots are able to work together on a system so that user perceives the system as a single,
common task in a cooperative way (Kopacek, 2012a). integrated computing facility. Nevertheless, multiple robot
Because a robot with most of the DOF`s of a human is systems are different from any other distributed systems
economically not to realize with the currently available because of their implicit “real world” environment, which is
more difficult to model.
 P. Kopacek / IFAC PapersOnLine 52-25 (2019) 131–135 133

The term collective behavior denotes any behavior of agents These drivers can act as either goals or constraints, depending
in a system having more than one agent. Therefore, on the situation.
cooperative behavior is a subclass of collective behaviour
characterized by cooperation, this is, the ability to work or act Ethical considerations can similarly be viewed as “design
together for a common purpose. drivers”, constraints or goals. Ethical behavior is either
Hence it follows that a multi- robot system displays something to be sought or something used to limit the design
cooperative behavior if due to some underlying mechanism, space. The technical features are analogous to the moral
there is an increase in the total utility of the system. There are issues at stake in an ethical case. Usually as the roots of
three fundamental aspects for cooperative behavior: the task Roboethics are the Isaac Asimov's 3 Laws of Robotics:
the robots must perform, the mechanism of cooperation and
the system performance. First Law: A robot may not injure a human being, or, through
In order to perform such collaborative tasks Cobots are inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
designed to be safe around humans (using sensors, force Second Law: A robot must obey orders given it by human
limiting and rounder geometries than traditional robots), to be beings, except where such orders would conflict with the first
lightweight (for them to be moved from task to task) and to law.
be easy to implement and use without skills in programming. Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as
Above all, a collaborative robot is not a replacement robot; it such protection does not conflict with the First or second law.
assists workers rather than replaces them. Asimov added the Fourth Law (Law Zero): No robot may
As detailed by the international ISO10218 standard, robots harm humanity or, through inaction, allow humanity to come
can have four types of collaborative features. These are to harm.

Safety Monitored Stop, These laws are very simple, but Asimov shows in some of his
Hand Guiding, short stories, which conflicts and contradictions would result
Speed and Separation Monitoring and in practice. A conflict results e.g. obviously from the fact that
Power and Force Limiting. such robots could hardly be used for martial purposes. The
military has naturally a very large interest in intelligent
Safety Monitored Stop is implemented in environments machines and promotes their development very actively.
where the robots operate mostly alone, with occasional
human interference. The feature will cause the robot to pause How one can deal with the fact that a robot will have some
(though not shutdown) when the safety zone is violated (i.e. a times incomplete information. A human could say to a robot,
human enters its workspace). to give poison in a glass of water. To another robot you say
The speed and separation monitoring feature is an extension the he should serve the glass to a special human. None of the
of Safety Monitored Stop. Instead of adopting a single two robots notices that he offends against the 1st law.
behavior throughout the robot’s entire workspace, the latter is Incomplete information can evoke fatal errors (Veruggio,
gradated into several safety zones. 2009).
Hand Guiding enables the robot to move while the worker is
in its workspace (as is possible with Speed and Separation Until now robotics was a discipline based on: Mechanics,
Monitoring). Using an end-of-arm device capable of Physics, Mathematics, Automation and Control, Electronics,
detecting applied forces, the robot can be guided by a worker Computer Science, Cybernetics, Artificial Intelligence…
for hand guiding and rapid path teaching. Therefore robots are frequently used as examples for
Mechatronic Systems. For Roboethics nontechnical fields
Power and Force Limiting feature is probably the safest of e.g. Philosophy, Ethics, Theology, Biology, Physiology,
them all as this type of robots are purposefully designed to Neurosciences, Law……have to add.
operate around humans rather than adapted to do so. As the
name suggests, the forces and energy applied to a human are Robotics unifies two cultures: Science and Humanities. The
limited so as to avoid any inflicted harm. effort to design Roboethics should make the unity of these
The real time of Cobots will come in Production 5.0. two cultures a primary assumption. This means that experts
shall view Robotics as a whole - in spite of the current early
stage which recalls a melting pot.
4 ROBOETHICS
They can achieve the vision of the Robotics’ future. Robotics
The process of engineering is the process of creating scientists, researchers, and the general public have about
solutions that can simultaneously achieve the goals of the robots different evaluations:
problem and remain within certain constraints. These goals
and constraints are referred to as “design drivers”. The three • Robots are nothing but machines
most common “design drivers” are
• Robots have ethical dimensions
the cost of the solution,
the schedule of the project and • Robots as moral agents
the features of the solution.
• Robots, evolution of a new specie
134 P. Kopacek / IFAC PapersOnLine 52-25 (2019) 131–135

In Tab.1 selected examples for robots and their applications

Currently the following definition is used: are listed concerning ethical issues.
“Roboethics is an applied ethics whose objective is to
develop scientific/cultural/technical tools that can be shared
by different social groups and believes. These tools aim to
promote and encourage the development of Robotics for the
advancement of human society and individuals, and to help
preventing its misuse against humankind.” (Veruggio, 2008).

Tab 1 Selected applications adapted from (Kopacek, 2018)

Applications Benefits (examples) Problems Ethic Recommendations

Exploring Robots Robots could be employed Threat to all the other Environmental organizations
in dangerous operations forms of live on the planet should promote researches
on the impact of the new
robotic technologies on
nature
Health Care and Life Quality Minimally invasive surgery Breakdown of surgical Improve the TQM standards
reduces patient recovery robot systems can cause including ethics.
time potentially fatal problems
Service Robots Increasing the quality of Psychological problems; Make the robots more
human life. Loss of privacy. “human friendly”.
The robot have to be a
“friend”.
Toy Robots Robot toys can become problems related to Educational systems should
(Edutainment) kids’ companions, e.g. intimacy. incorporate this type of
“friend”, “brother”..; robots in their programs.
Make sure that there are real
human friends.

innovative hydrometallurgical processes. The initiative built

The main goals of Roboethics are: on an earlier EU project that developed processes using
Avoid conflicts
Work for a safe future sulfuric acid to extract valuable metals from lamps and
Protect the environment cathode ray tubes (CRTs), liquid-crystal displays (LCDs),
Select materials that require minimum energy to produce, lithium-ion batteries, printed circuit boards (PCBs) and
Select processes that minimize waste of materials and energy, industrial catalysts (Kopacek & Kopacek,2012b).
Design parts that can be recycled or reused, Project partners improved techniques for extracting 11
Design products that can be readily disassembled to recover different metals, including gold and silver, and created new
the parts, ways to recover a further 6 metals. The new processes can
Design products that minimize the use of hazardous and toxic produce materials with sufficient purity (above 95 %) to be
materials, put on the market and reused by industry for applications
Give attention to how the product will be disposed of at the such as for electroplating.
end of its useful life.
Making the plant mobile by putting it in a container allows
A very good example for “Work for a safe future” and several small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to
“Protect the environment” is reduce and recycle the waste of benefit from the same plant at different times, thereby
electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). It is the fastest reducing both waste and the financial investment required.
growing form of waste in Europe. However, such discarded By making the processes universal, different input materials
material contains significant amounts of raw materials can be treated in the same mobile plant in batches (CORDIS,
described as critical metals that can be profitably recycled. 2017).

Critical metals availability is essential for high-technology,

green and defense applications, but they are vulnerable to 5. SOCIAL ASPECTS
fluctuations in supply. In most industrialized countries, more managers than ever -
The EU-funded HYDROWEEE DEMO project focused on along with their wealth of experience - are retiring every day,
the recovery of base and precious metals from WEEE using just when a solid knowledge base is increasingly important
for production. The group of 50- to 64-year-olds makes up
 P. Kopacek / IFAC PapersOnLine 52-25 (2019) 131–135 135

about 20 percent of the population in the European Union “Army” of unemployed people, the “manless” factory, robots
today. Loss of know-how: This industrial renaissance is now as jobkillers,…… was predicted. Clearly some “low tech”
at risk as the change of generations threatens a serious loss of working places disappeared as usual in automation. At that
experience and knowledge time these problems were solved mainly by higher education
To realize these new tasks especially education is absolutely of the employees and increasing the production output.
necessary. We all hope that it will be also true for Production 4.0.
Production 4.0 is bringing lasting changes in the workplace.
Technologies that connect things, data and processes are In my personal opinion there are some other open questions
placing new demands on employees and management, like the costs for installation and maintenance especially for
especially in industry. Workplace training for Production 4.0 SME`s, the return of investment (ROI) and tailormade
is thus the key to the success of industrial enterprises. The education offers for the future operators of Production 4.0
implementation of the digital transformation possesses are systems and in the future Production 5.0 and 6.0.
particular challenges for SMEs.
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