Soft Robotics

A Route to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity in Robotics

authored by

Simona Aracri, Josie Hughes, Cosimo Della Santina, Jovana Jovanova, Sam Hoh, Ditzia Susana Garcia Morales, Rosangela Barcaro, Yu Jun Tan, Vera G. Kortman, Aimée Sakes, Alix J. Partridge, Matteo Cianchetti, Cecilia Laschi, Barbara Mazzolai, Adam A. Stokes, Pablo Valdivia Alvarado, Chen Hua Yeow, Angelo Odetti, Valentina Lo Gatto, Lucio Pisacane, Massimo Caccia

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.

Organisation(s)

Institute for Assembly Technology and Robotics

External Organisation(s)

National Research Council Italy (CNR)
École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Delft University of Technology
ArmasTec
University of Bristol
National University of Singapore
Heriot-Watt University
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento
Center for Nanotechnology Innovation, Pisa
University of Edinburgh
Singapore University of Technology and Design
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Type

Article

Journal

Soft robotics

Volume

11

Pages

903-910

No. of pages

8

ISSN

2169-5172

Publication date

12.2024

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Control and Systems Engineering, Biophysics, Artificial Intelligence

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1089/soro.2023.0225 (Access: Open)