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Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna
In collaborazione con LAST-JD consortium:
Università degli studi di Torino
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Mykolas Romeris University
Tilburg University
DOTTORATO DI RICERCA IN
Erasmus Mundus Joint International Doctoral Degree in Law,
Science and Technology
Ciclo 29 – A.Y. 2013/2014
Settore Concorsuale di afferenza: 12H3
Settore Scientifico disciplinare: IUS20
TITOLO TESI
Towards a Legal and Ethical Framework for Personal Care Robots.
Analysis of Person Carrier, Physical Assistant and Mobile Servant Robots
_______________________________
Presentata da: EDUARD FOSCH VILLARONGA
Coordinatore Relatore
Prof. Monica Palmirani Antoni Roig Batalla
Co- Relatore
Jordi Albó Canals
Esame finale anno 2017
Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna
in partnership with LAST-JD Consoritum
Università degli studi di Torino
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Mykolas Romeris University
Tilburg University
PhD Programme in
Erasmus Mundus Joint International Doctoral Degree in Law,
Science and Technology
Cycle 29 – a.y. 2013/14
Settore Concorsuale di afferenza: 12H3
Settore Scientifico disciplinare: IUS20
Towards a Legal and Ethical Framework for Personal Care Robots.
Analysis of Person Carrier, Physical Assistant and Mobile Servant Robots
Submitted by: EDUARD FOSCH VILLARONGA
The PhD Programme Coordinator Supervisor (s)
Prof. Monica Palmirani Prof. Antoni Roig Batalla
Prof. Jordi Albó Canals
Year 2017
Departament de Ciència Política i Dret Públic
TOWARDS A LEGAL AND ETHICAL FRAMEWORK FOR
PERSONAL CARE ROBOTS .
ANALYSIS OF PERSON C ARRIER, PHYSICAL ASS ISTANT
AND MOBILE SERVANT R OBOTS
Dipositat a la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona com a
requeriment per al grau de Doctor en Dret, Ciència i Tecnologia del
PhD Programme in
Erasmus Mundus Joint International Doctoral Degree in Law, Science
and Technology
Cycle 29 – a.y. 2013/14
Institut de Dret i Tecno logia (IDT), Àrea de Filosofia i Teoria del Dret
per
Eduard Fosch Villaronga
Bellaterra, Juny 2017
Director:
Dr. Antoni Roig Batalla
Co-Director:
Dr. Jordi Albó Canals
© Copyright 2017 per Eduard Fosch Villaronga
Certifico que he llegit aquesta tesi, que és adequada i compleix tots els
requeriments de qualitat per obtenir el grau de Doctor en Dret, Ciència i
Tecnologia.
Bellaterra, Juny 2017
_________________________________________________________
Dr. Antoni Roig Batalla
Director de la tesi
_________________________________________________________
Dr. Jordi Albó Canals
Co-Director de la tesi
_________________________________________________________
Eduard Fosch Villaronga
Doctorand
Tribunal:
Dr. Lina Sors Emilsson
Dr. Christopher Millard
Dr. Aleksandar Rodić
To my mother, the strongest person I’ve ever known
7
Abstract. Roboticists building robots that interact with humans may be clueless about
what regulations apply to their product. They might not even know whether they are
legally responsible for their products. Sometimes, even law is not prepared to promptly
accommodate new types of technology, e.g. driverless cars. Therefore, when a new
robot is created or a new function/use is introduced, an assessment of the impacts should
be carried out.
This assessment should be made first against regulations to make sure that this new
technology or its new use remains within the existing liberty space. If the creators of the
robot do not encounter any limitations, they can then proceed with its development. On
the contrary, if there are some limitations, robot creators will either (1) adjust the robot
to comply with the existing regulatory framework; (2) start a negotiation with the
regulators to change the law, so that the original robot is compliant with a new
regulation; or (3) carry out the original plan and risk to be non-compliant.
The regulator can discuss existing (or lacking) regulations with robot developers and
give a legal response accordingly. In an ideal world, robots are clear of impacts and
therefore threats can be responded in terms of prevention and opportunities in form of
facilitation. In reality, the impacts of robots are often uncertain and less clear, especially
when they are inserted in care applications. Therefore, regulators will have to address
uncertain risks, ambiguous impacts and yet unkown effects.
Technology is rapidly developing, and regulators and robot creators inevitably have to
come to terms with new and unexpected scenarios. A thorough analysis of this new and
continuosuly evolving reality could be useful to better understand the current situation
and pave the way to the future creation of a legal and ethical framework that takes into
proper account all these new technologies. This is clearly a wide and complex goal,
considering the variet y of ne w technologies available today a nd those under
development. Therefore, t his thesis focuses on the evaluation of the impacts of personal
care robots. In particular , it analyzes how roboticists adjust their creation s to the existing
regulatory framework for legal compliance purposes.
By carrying out the impact assessment analysis , existing regulatory gaps and lack of
regulatory clarity can be highlighted. These gaps should of course be considered further
on by lawmakers for a future legal framework for personal care rob ot.
Contents
CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... 9
LIST OF ACRONYMS ........................................................................................... 12
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................. 13
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................... 14
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................... 16
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 21
1. ROBOT TECHNOLOGY IN HEALTHCARE ......................................................... 21
2. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ON HEALTHCARE SERVICE ROBOTICS: PERSONAL
CARE ROBOTS ....................................................................................................... 23
3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS................................................................................... 26
4. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................. 27
5. STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ............................................................................ 32
6. READING PATHS ............................................................................................ 32
6.1. For personal care robot creators .......................................................... 32
6.2. For legal scholars ................................................................................. 33
6.3. For law and policymakers..................................................................... 33
1. CHAPTER - PERSONAL CARE ROBOTS: DESCRIPTION AND
REGULATORY NEEDS ........................................................................................ 34
1. DEFINITION OF ROBOT ....................................................................................... 34
2. PERSONAL CARE ROBOT AS SERVICE ROBOT .................................................... 40
3. TYPES OF PERSONAL CARE ROBOT .................................................................... 42
3.1 Person Carrier Robot ................................................................................. 43
3.2 Physical Assistant Robot ............................................................................ 47
3.3 Mobile Servant Robot ................................................................................. 52
4. ARE PERSONAL CARE ROBOTS SOCIAL OR NON SOCIAL ROBOTS? .................... 55
5. ROBOTS EXCLUDED BY ISO 13482:2014 ........................................................... 61
5.1. Robots travelling faster than 20 km/h ................................................... 62
5.2. Robot toys ............................................................................................. 62
5.3. Water-borne robots and flying robots ................................................... 64
5.4. Industrial robots ................................................................................... 65
5.5. Robots as medical devices..................................................................... 66
5.6. Military or public force application robots........................................... 67
2. CHAPTER - PERSONAL CARE ROBOTS LEGAL FRAMEWORK:
BEYOND CURRENT STATE OF THE ART ...................................................... 69
1. INDUSTRIAL STANDARDS AS A FRAME FOR PERSONAL CARE ROBOTS .............. 69
2. EVOLUTION OF THE LEGAL DISCUSSION ON ROBOTS ......................................... 71
3. CURRENT LEGAL AND ETHICAL FRAMEWORK FOR PERSONAL CARE ROBOTS ... 73
a. Safety ........................................................................................................ 74
b. Consumer Robotics .................................................................................. 75
c. Liability .................................................................................................... 76
d. User Rights ............................................................................................... 81
e. Autonomy .................................................................................................. 84
f. Dignity ....................................................................................................... 84
g. Ethics ........................................................................................................ 84
