A Safer National Police

A representative from the Safety & Security Campus was interested in working on a societal challenge, namely improving the safety of the workers in the defense sector using robotics. The representative reached out to Steven van Roon, manager of the Business & Operations Robotics Centre at the UT. Steven then reached out to DesignLab and the project was able to start. 

The goals of this project were:

• Develop a prototype that can be used for sensor placement using a robotic dog
• Improve the safety of the workers of the safety sector by implementing robotics in their way of working
• Use the Responsible Futuring Approach to address this challenge in a holistic and ethical manner

After clarifying the objectives and deliverables, the team started contacting teachers and researchers that had expertise on the subject (safety, robotics, etc.). Based on the input from these stakeholders, the DreamTeam defined the requirements of the project: mechanical, electrical, usability, societal, and automation. 

In order to create a robust concept, a co-creation session was held to generate ideas. The team took all the input gathered so far, and decided on what the solution could look like. 

This is when the prototyping started. The solutions that came from the co-creation session came to life. After testing these prototypes, one of them stood out due to it's adequacy to meet the requirements set in the beginning. A proof of concept attachment was created for the robot dog. 

The DreamTeam then presented the process of reaching the objective and how the end-product actually worked. The final deliverable to the partner was a report documenting the whole process and the physical solution. It also included a video showcasing how the team worked together. 

The most important outcome was to tackle this challenge using the Responsible Futuring Approach to collaboratively create the end-product. This attachment was used to place sensors on walls. There was also an important focus on ethics and responsibility towards all the involved societal stakeholders.  

Safety is such an important part of the safety sector. That's why using robotics is helpful. If a space is not considered 'safe' for the workers in the safety sector, they can send the robot dog to scout it and place sensors for assessment.