Sarah Hubbard, a student Research Assistant with the Lab, and Hannah Misenar just recently completed their Information School Capstone on a concept they call the “Robot Operator License”. After being exposed to a variety of tech policy issues with emerging technologies through the Lab, Sarah was interested in exploring the challenges and opportunities with the integration of teleoperated robots into society. Below is a description of their project.

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Robot Operator License: Educating Teleoperated Robot Users to Increase Public Safety

by Sarah Hubbard and Hannah Misenar

 

Following the path of Moore’s Law, teleoperated robots are becoming more accessible and ubiquitous in the everyday consumers life — forever changing the way we work and interact with the world around us. In order to maintain public safety in a society cohabited by humans and machines, the Robot Operator License ensures that users have completed training and received a license to operate their robot. This educational course provides critical information and interactive simulations in an effort to smoothly transition this technology into the modern world.

Developed in partnership with the UW CSE Human-Centered Robotics Lab, the Robot Operator License is designed for the Beam+ telepresence robot, which serves as a proof-of­-concept and demonstrates a need for this type of operational education. This course aims to tackle the policy challenges and threats to public safety due to the use of teleoperated robots by the everyday individual.

View the project video here. Visit the Robot Operator License online course here.