Responsible Robotics: A Socio-Ethical Addition To Robotics Courses
Joshua Vekhter, Joydeep Biswas

TL;DR
This paper introduces a role-playing based responsible robotics module for higher education, aiming to teach students socio-ethical considerations in deploying autonomous robots in real-world environments.
Contribution
It presents a novel teaching module that enhances students' understanding of socio-ethical issues in robotics through experiential learning and role-playing exercises.
Findings
Students gained deeper socio-technical understanding.
Students supported broader inclusion of responsible robotics in curricula.
The module was well-received in graduate and upper-division courses.
Abstract
We are witnessing a rapid increase in real-world autonomous robotic deployments in environments ranging from indoor homes and commercial establishments to large-scale urban areas, with applications ranging from domestic assistance to urban last-mile delivery. The developers of these robots inevitably have to make impactful design decisions to ensure commercial viability, but such decisions have serious real-world consequences. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for such projects to face intense bouts of social backlash, which can be attributed to a wide variety of causes, ranging from inappropriate technical design choices to transgressions of social norms and lack of community engagement. To better prepare students for the rigors of developing and deploying real-world robotics systems, we developed a Responsible Robotics teaching module, intended to be included in upper-division and…
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Taxonomy
TopicsEthics and Social Impacts of AI · Teaching and Learning Programming · Software Engineering Techniques and Practices
