Robots and ecology: the community is looking for answers to uncomfortable questions

Robots clean rivers and sort garbage, monitor ecosystems and check renewable energy infrastructure. But even the greenest robot has an ecological footprint. If robotics is to help build a more sustainable world, the robotics community will have to answer some potentially awkward questions. And the first one is: how sustainable are the robots themselves?

Ecological footprint of robots

Throughout their entire life cycle - from rare earth mineral mining and production to operation and disposal - robots have an impact on the environment. However, until now roboticists did not have special tools to calculate it.

The Robotics Eco-Label project, led by Bram Vanderborght of the Free University of Brussels, is trying to close this gap. It offers a lightweight web-based tool to quantify robot sustainability.

How does sustainability assessment work?

The toolkit divides the robot's key technologies into materials, energy sources, sensors, processors, actuators, design and recyclability. Each element is then assessed according to five indicators:

conservation of resources;

extension of service life;

carbon footprint;

energy efficiency;

circularity.

The resulting numbers are combined into a weighted matrix, which gives the final Eco-Score from 0 to 100. The weights have not yet been fixed - this is one of the tasks for further research and collaboration. You can use the interactive project self-assessment tool to get a rough estimate for your robot.

A low score in one area may indicate energy-intensive drives, limited repairability, difficult-to-recycle materials, or lack of a recycling plan. A high score, on the other hand, indicates that sustainability was considered at the level of the entire system.

One of the project's stated goals is to make environmental trade-offs visible early in development so that they influence the robot's design. The project also includes educational materials and community features: researchers and developers can compare approaches, share case studies, and translate general sustainability goals into specific design solutions.

For companies, Eco-Label can be a way to gain a competitive advantage, and it can help consumers make more informed decisions.

Robotics Eco-Label is just one of the projects funded by IEEE RAS Sustainability grants that were presented at ICRA in June. These grants are a key part of IEEE RAS's broader efforts to integrate sustainability into robotics research, education, design, and implementation.

Overspecification problem

Sometimes sustainable robotics starts with smarter purchasing. It's about avoiding overspecification - that is, buying robots that are larger or more powerful than necessary.

By matching a robot to its actual workload, it is possible to reduce wasted potential, avoid wasted materials, and reduce energy loss over its lifespan. This principle underlies the work of the team led by Antun Skurić, also funded by IEEE RAS.

The team has developed an open platform for assessing the sustainability of collaborative robots. The user specifies the required workspace, payload and trajectory, and the platform selects a robot with the minimum mass that meets these requirements.

The app has interactive tools: you can visualize the robot, move it manually, check task variables, see reachable space, and observe key configurations. So the robot’s performance is calculated based on the specific conditions and requirements of the task.

Robots against energy poverty

Energy poverty and inefficient use of solar energy are major problems in Nigeria, where more than 90 million people lack reliable access to electricity. The SolarPeer 360 project, led by Umar Adetola Abdulgani, a student at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, takes on this challenge by combining robotic solar tracking, AI-based optimization and peer-to-peer power distribution.

This is a timely reminder that robots can directly support sustainable development goals. SolarPeer addresses two related problems: the inefficiency of small-scale solar installations and the lack of transparent, affordable mechanisms for sharing excess renewable energy between households and small businesses.

According to the team, SolarPeer 360 is built on the logic of sustainability: “energy captured more efficiently can be distributed more equitably, and transparent energy exchange creates local economic value, reducing waste and dependence on fossil fuels.”

SolarPeer connects smart solar capture through tracking, controlled and measured distribution through embedded electronics, and behavior optimization through data, interfaces, and AI guidance. Early results show tangible progress.

In one comparison of tracking and fixed installation, the team saw a 60.3 percent increase in average power, from 3.83 W to 6.14 W. At the same time, AI energy consulting and optimization resulted in a reduction in energy losses of approximately 25% in a test environment.

Outside the lab, the team deployed five community mini-systems and conducted a solar energy training workshop that reached more than 500 students.

Raising a new generation

Sustainability in robotics is not just a technical challenge. It is also a cultural and educational challenge for the next generation of engineers, researchers, educators and users.

This is partly the motivation behind the Caretta project, led by Mustafa Kemal Ambar, which brought robotics and sustainability education to schoolchildren aged 8-16 in Cyprus. Inspired by the Caretta sea turtle, the project created a working robot prototype to reduce coastal pollution.

Conducted two successful beach cleanups, and the project involved more than thirty students through workshops and hands-on training. The beach became both a testing ground and a classroom. Students clearly saw how engineering relates to local environmental issues and community needs.

During a field exercise, one student pointed to plastic trash near the water and remarked, “Maybe the turtles won't eat that anymore if Caretta works faster.”

Sustainability as a foundation of practice

Can the robotics community accelerate the integration of sustainability into their frameworks and practices? Early results from projects supported by IEEE RAS Sustainability Grants indicate that work is already underway.