Introduction

The Hazards Forum event, ‘Robots we can trust: Unlocking the UK’s potential in smart machines’, chaired by Marc McBride from the Emerging and Future Technology Interest Group, focused on the rapid advancement of robotics and autonomous systems (RAS) and how they are redefining the global technological landscape. As robotics become increasingly integrated into daily life and industrial processes, the UK faces a pivotal opportunity to lead in their responsible development and deployment.  This has been recognised in the recently published UK government Smart Machines Strategy 2035.  This 10-year plan builds on the UK’s strengths in research, innovation, and entrepreneurship, laying out strategic goals and actionable steps to unlock the full potential of smart machines by 2035.

Following on from our successful event in 2024, the Hazards Forum once again partnered with the National Committee on RAS Regulations, Standards and Ethics (the ‘National Committee’) to explore how the UK can capitalise on its world-leading research base to drive the effective and ethical integration of RAS across society. 

We welcomed four speakers: 

• Vaibhav Puri OBE, Director of Sector Strategy and Transformation at the Rail Safety and Standards Board, speaking on ‘RAS and the importance of effective compliance pathways, cross-sector collaboration and acceptance’;
• Dr Isidro Durazo Cardenas, Senior Lecturer in Life Cycle Engineering at Cranfield University, speaking on ‘Autonomous railways infrastructure inspection and repair vehicles’;
• Dr Steve Davis, Senior Research Fellow in Robotics at the University of Birmingham and Operational Director of The Birmingham Institute for Robotics, speaking on ‘Robotics and AI in circular manufacturing’; and
• Dr Ketao Zhang, Senior Lecturer in Robotics and Director of the Robotic Systems Research Group at Queen Mary University of London, speaking on ‘Robotics and AI: Enabling Safe Remote Operations in Hazardous Environments’.

The UK’s Robotics Paradox: Research Strength vs. Deployment Gap

A central theme of the meeting was the stark contrast between the UK’s research prowess and its industrial application of robotics.

• World-class research, Low deployment: According the Smart Machines Strategy 2035, the UK is ranked third globally for research quality in RAS, indicating a strong foundation of knowledge and innovation. However, this academic strength has yet to translate into widespread industrial adoption.
• Deployment lag: The UK deploys a fraction of the number of robots in industry compared to other major economies. Specifically, it had only 101 robots per 10,000 workers in 2020, highlighting a significant gap with international competitors, e.g. Korea, which had 932 robots per 10,000 workers. This low rate persists despite the UK ranking third in private sector investment for the early adoption of robotics.
• Niche application: Current robotics adoption remains largely limited to niche applications, demonstrating a critical need for strategies to scale deployment across various sectors.

Major Challenges to Robotics Adoption

The meeting identified several interconnected barriers hindering the widespread integration of RAS, spanning regulation, operational standards, and labour issues.

Regulatory Hurdles and Perception

A major concern is the difficulty in navigating the existing regulatory landscape.

• Perception vs. reality: There is a strong perception among developers and businesses that regulatory burdens are a significant deterrent to deployment.
• Legislative barriers: Beyond perception, some fundamental problems with existing legislation actively hinder robotics deployment, necessitating organized efforts and lobbying for change.
• Sector-specific complexity: Different industries operate under varying regulations, complicating the application of a single technological solution across multiple sectors. This lack of a “standard answer” for every industry creates a considerable challenge for technology providers.

Standards, Safety, and Compliance

Establishing clear, accepted standards for robotics remains a challenge, particularly as systems become more complex and move into public or sensitive environments.

• Operational standards: Adapting and extending existing operational standards for new robotic systems is difficult. The focus must shift to developing operational-specific standards and acceptance criteria to ensure safety in diverse environments.
• Balancing specificity and scale: Standards bodies face a continuous challenge in balancing principles-based approaches, and prescription and specificity in technology standards as they scale. Furthermore, ensuring standards reflect the needs of manufacturers and developers requires greater engagement with the entire supply chain.
• Compliance issues: In specialised fields like railway operation, compliance with standards (e.g., those set by RSSB) for autonomous machines is a key hurdle that must be addressed before implementation can proceed.

Skilled Labor and Ethical Concerns

The deployment of robotics is intertwined with significant challenges in the labour market and associated ethical considerations.

• Skilled worker shortages: There is a significant, persistent shortage of skilled workers across various sectors in the UK, including crucial areas like welding and agriculture. While robotics has been used in welding for decades, variation in types of material and environmental conditions continues to pose challenges.
• Ethical considerations: The meeting stressed the need to discuss the ethical implications of robotics, particularly regarding labour shortages and the appropriate use of RAS. A consensus was noted that robots should primarily be deployed in environments where they can reduce risks to human workers, such as nuclear facilities or hazardous tasks, rather than in purely domestic settings.
• Deployment risks: Practical concerns were raised about the risks associated with deploying expensive robotics in public spaces, including the potential for theft and damage.

Technology and Application Gaps

Specific technical and application challenges were highlighted through various project examples:

• Sustainability and end-of-life: A significant concern is the lack of cross-industry collaboration to address end-of-life product challenges. The fact that 80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined during the design stage underscores the need for better design practices to facilitate remanufacturing and component separation (e.g., separating magnets).
• Soft robotics and pneumatics: In specific high-risk environments, like nuclear facilities, minimising the use of electronics is crucial due to their vulnerability to radiation fields. This drives the need for further improvements in pneumatic systems to overcome issues like pressure drops in long tubes.
• Railway operations: The UK rail network faces immense challenges like flooding and fallen trees, which cost Network Rail substantial amounts annually. This drives development towards solutions like swarm robotic systems to clear obstructions and restore services quickly.

Key Next Steps 

To address these challenges, the meeting outlined a set of actions, focusing on process development, regulatory engagement, and standards refinement.

Process and Deployment Facilitation

• The National Committee has developed and is now applying a repeatable process for planning and scoping robotics projects to streamline and facilitate their deployment beyond first-of-a-kind.
• The University of Birmingham is leading a Manufacturing Research Hub in Robotics, Automation and Smart Machine Enabled Sustainable Circular Manufacturing and Materials (RESCu-M2). Industry partners in the hub are helping to define flagship projects that clearly demonstrate the successful outcomes of sustainability work and cross-sectoral collaboration in this area.
• A sandboxing case study will be provided by the RESCu-M2 hub to test the work developed by the National Committee and its findings.

Addressing Regulatory and Compliance Hurdles

• The National Committee is actively working with stakeholders to unlock regulatory challenges, improve understanding of existing regulations, and ultimately seek necessary legislative changes.
• The team will identify specific deployment barriers and create publicly available knowledge products from their experiences to help others.
• Specific collaborations will be undertaken to identify gaps in compliance and regulation within the robotics sector.

Standards and Supply Chain Engagement

• There is a commitment among stakeholders to develop operational-specific standards and acceptance criteria for robotics to ensure safety across various environments.
• Standards bodies must engage more with the supply chain to ensure standards genuinely reflect the practical needs of manufacturers and developers.
• The supply chain itself must engage and provide the necessary components required for advancing technology readiness levels across the industry.

Conclusion

The Hazards Forum event on “Robots We Can Trust: Unlocking the UK’s potential in smart machines” successfully laid out the critical landscape for robotics in the UK – a sector with immense potential constrained by systemic hurdles. While the UK is an innovation leader, overcoming the deployment gap requires a concerted, collaborative effort to simplify regulatory navigation, establish fit-for-purpose operational standards, and thoughtfully address the ethical and workforce implications of advanced automation. The next steps provide a clear roadmap for stakeholders  to focus on practical process development and targeted engagement with regulators and the supply chain to move the UK from a research powerhouse to a deployment leader.