Robotics in Sustainability: Opportunities and Challenges for a Holistic Environmental Assessment

Robotics offers significant potential for advancing sustainability across various sectors, including environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, and manufacturing. By improving efficiency and enabling more precise interventions, robots can help meet critical global challenges, including those outlined by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. However, the environmental benefits of robotics must be balanced against the challenges they introduce, such as high energy consumption, material waste, and the depletion of resources, particularly in the case of multi-robot systems. This paper examines the dual impact of robotics on sustainability, focusing on both the positive contributions of robotics and the environmental issues that arise from their production, use, and disposal. The paper aims to lay the groundwork for overcoming the current fragmented research, which often addresses robotic subsystems in isolation rather than considering the integrated systems as a whole. For a comprehensive framework that evaluates the full environmental impact of robotic technologies, the paper draws attention to the need for an integrated, holistic approach to sustainability in robotics, ensuring that technological advancements align with environmental goals.