Broader Impacts

Broader Impacts: Robots and Roboticists

Robots are embodied systems, meaning that they physically interact and change the world. This assignment spanning the semester asks you to introspect, discuss, and reflect on a robot of your choice, the engineers behind that robot, and the people or environment that robot acts on. In particular, this assignment asks you:

How does [this robot] affect you? the environment? society?

Part 1: Introspection

Due Sept 24, 2024

In this assignment, I’m asking you to select a robot that you’ll be thinking about over the course of the semester. The definition of “robot” here can be expansive – any technological system that can sense and physically respond to stimuli can be considered a robot for this assignment (so, an automated HVAC system is just as fair game as a Boston Dynamics Atlas as an industrial car manufacturing arm). When selecting your robot, consider the following:

  • Is this robot one that will hold your attention throughout the semester?
  • Is this robot one that you would be interested in talking about with your peers in this class?
  • Does this robot exist in an industry or environment that you also want to learn more about; or is it manufactured / maintained by a company / person you’d like to know more about?
  • When you think about this robot, do any strong feelings (positive or negative) come up for you? Since this is a computation-oriented class; does this robot feature “intelligent” behaviors?

Once you have selected your robot, create an artifact that examines the following:

  • Introduce the robot – e.g., what is it called, what does it look like, who makes it?
  • Explain the robot – e.g., what does it do? where does it do it? what goal does the entity that makes it have?
  • React to the robot – e.g., have you encountered this robot? what feelings does it elicit from you?
  • Assess the robot – e.g., how proficient is the robot at its task? can it be used for other tasks? how does it impact the places / people it interacts with?

An artifact is any physical (e.g., sticky-note canvas; sketch model), virtual (e.g., powerpoint presentation; webpage), or mixed-media object that captures your thinking and learning process as you discover more about your robot. You are free to choose any way you want to represent your literature search, media deep dive, and brainstorming, but please keep in mind that the final artifact will be reviewed by the teaching team, who will be looking for elements of introduction, explanation, reaction, and assessment.

You are strongly encouraged to pull in academic literature, popular media, imagery, videos, and text-based resources as you create your artifact. Remember to cite your sources and provide media credits when appropriate.

To submit this assignment, upload a document containing your artifact or provide a link to your artifact (if you make a physical object, please submit image(s) or video(s) of your artifact) to Canvas. You will be assessed on completeness (1 point) and presence of each of the 4 prompts (introduction, explanation, reaction, and assessment; 1 point each) for a total of 5 points. It is expected that this assignment should take ~6-10 hrs to complete.

Part 2: Discussion

Due Nov 5, 2024

Like any technological system, a robot can carry different meaning or connotation to different people; and like any implemented infrastructure, the impact of a robot can vary across contexts, individuals, and cultures. In this assignment, you will present your robot to a small group in class and lead a brief discussion centered on your robot. The aim of this assignment is to (1) practice presenting technical systems to an audience of peers, (2) practice leading an open-ended discussion, and (3) challenge your own or others’ perspectives about your chosen robot.

Logistics

You will be randomly assigned a day in class on one of 10/28, 10/31, or 11/04 for your discussion slot (you may trade your day with someone else in class; just let the teaching team know in advance). Your peers not presenting on that day will be randomly assigned to your group for your discussion.

Preparation / Materials

Please prepare an ~8 minute slide-based presentation about your robot and 3 discussion prompts. Your presentations will be in a relatively informal setting (sitting around a project table together with your audience); with that in mind, your slide-deck should be complete and informational, but your presentation style can be conversational.

Discussion

Begin your discussion with your presentation, and leave ~2 minutes afterward for brief, clarifying Q&A. All remaining time during your discussion slot will then be for open-ended discussion seeded by your prompts. You may structure the discussion in whatever way you wish (see suggestions below).

Post-Discussion

Following the discussion, you and everyone in your group will have ~5 minutes to fill in a “reaction” survey provided by the teaching team that will capture for each person: (1) what is currently on their mind, if the discussion were to continue, (2) moments of surprise that arose during the presentation or discussion, and (3) the next question they would ask in a discussion. These surveys will be provided to each of the discussion leaders for that day. Any artifacts created during a discussion (e.g., white board writing, sticky notes, etc.) will be photographed / captured in some way as well.

Grading

Please submit your slide-deck, discussion prompts, and any discussion artifacts (if applicable). The teaching team will already have a copy of the reaction surveys. This assignment will be graded on completeness, worth 10 points – 5 points for a complete and appropriately scoped slide deck, and 2 points for the prompts generated for discussion, and 3 points for leading a discussion in class. It is expected that it will take you ~6-10hrs to create your presentation and prompts.

For Your Consideration

During this discussion, you will be the “technical expert” about your chosen robot; thus the content for a discussion should be around the implications of your robot system – how does this robot impact individuals, its environment, society at large? A productive discussion will investigate new perspectives about a robot, highlight areas where more research / thinking may need to be done, and tease out some of the complicated nuance that always surrounds the adoption of complex technological systems. To that end, when preparing your presentation and discussion prompts, consider the following:

  • What story do you want to tell about your robot?
  • What aspects of introduction, explanation, reaction, and assessment do you want to include in your presentation? In your discussion?
  • What feelings will your presentation or discussion elicit? Is this your intent?
  • What perspectives are you potentially missing in your contemplation about your robot?
  • Are you willing to be challenged on a perspective you hold about your robot?
  • Are you providing enough context in your presentation to inform a holistic discussion?
  • What are your goals for the discussion? How will you know it was productive conversation?

Leading a discussion is an art and science, and there is no one “right” way to lead a discussion. You are welcome to adopt a strategy that suits you and your learning goals for your time with your group. You might consider adopting one of the following strategies:

  • Open-ended dialog: a primarily talking-oriented, free-form conversation gently prompted or moderated
  • Structured dialog: invite each member of the group, in turn, to respond to a prompt; leave room after everyone has had a chance to share for any additional commentary
  • Generative dialog: collaborate on an artifact to spur conversation or capture thoughts; e.g., have each person brain dump ideas spurred by a prompt onto sticky notes, share them, and sort them together into themes

Part 3: Reflection

Due Dec 6, 2024

This part of the assignment provides an opportunity to consider how you, as an engineer, will build systems that affect you, the environment, and society. You are asked to prepare a minimum 1-page written reflection (12pt font, single spacing, Times New Roman, 1” margins) that examines the following questions (these should look somewhat familiar…but we’re now considering you, rather than just the robot you’ve been contemplating):

  • Introduce yourself – e.g., who are you, as a person and/or engineer? what is your background?
  • Explain yourself – e.g., why did you enroll in CompRobo? why is engineering interesting to you? what problems do you want to solve?
  • React to “robots” – e.g., following this course and your Broader Impacts discussions, what do you think about your chosen robot? about other robots discussed? what feelings or thoughts do these systems elicit?
  • Assess yourself – e.g., how has your thinking changed (or not) about your robot / robots generally over the course of the semester? what questions do you still have about your robot / robots? would you work on your robot or one like this? under what conditions? why or why not?
  • Resolve – e.g., what will you takeaway from CompRobo, and from this assignment?

Your written response need not map to these 5 prompts exactly. You are encouraged to highlight specific anecdotes or artifacts throughout the semester to illustrate your points. Please cite any sources you may choose to include. The assignment is graded on completion and clarity, and is worth 5 points as a whole. It is anticipated that this assignment may take ~6-10hrs to complete.