The new material science towards sustainable robotics

Abstract

Sustainable robotics is an emerging field of research that aims to develop robotic automation solutions to address the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The material-centric approach to sustainable robotics focuses on designing robots with novel sustainable materials starting from natural or recycled raw materials, demonstrating self-healing reusability, and eventually recycled, upcycled, or biodegraded with minimal environmental impact. The ultimate goal is to realize a physical robotic embodiment with a circular life-cycle. This perspective highlights recent advances in material science, ranging from self-healing materials to biodegradable and recyclable materials, which serve as the foundation for this emerging class of robots. We then showcase examples of functional material integration in sustainable robotic components and discuss challenges and opportunities towards an entirely sustainable robotic system.