Soft Robotics: A Route to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity in Robotics
Name
aracri-et-al-2024-soft-robotics-a-route-to-equality-diversity-and-inclusivity-in-robotics.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
1.24 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
e2236cadda411bbdf33df78a7eae4f35
Author(s)
Aracri, Simona
Hughes, Josie
Della Santina, Cosimo
Jovanova, Jovana
Hoh, Sam
Garcia Morales, Ditzia Susana
Barcaro, Rosangela
Tan, Yu Jun
Kortman, Vera G
Sakes, Aimée
Date Issued
December 1, 2024
Journal
Soft Robotics
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Robotics is entering our daily lives. The discipline is increasingly crucial in fields such as agriculture, medicine, and rescue operations, impacting our food, health, and planet. At the same time, it is becoming evident that robotic research must embrace and reflect the diversity of human society to address these broad challenges effectively. In recent years, gender inclusivity has received increasing attention, but it still remains a distant goal. In addition, awareness is rising around other dimensions of diversity, including nationality, religion, and politics. Unfortunately, despite the efforts, empirical evidence shows that the field has still a long way to go before achieving a sufficient level of equality, diversity, and inclusion across these spectra. This study focuses on the soft robotics community—a growing and relatively recent subfield—and it outlines the present state of equality and diversity panorama in this discipline. The article argues that its high interdisciplinary and accessibility make it a particularly welcoming branch of robotics. We discuss the elements that make this subdiscipline an example for the broader robotic field. At the same time, we recognize that the field should still improve in several ways and become more inclusive and diverse. We propose concrete actions that we believe will contribute to achieving this goal, and provide metrics to monitor its evolution.
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
10.1089/soro.2023.0225
