Experimenting and learning from robotics and autonomous systems in the environment

This emerging set of visions, experiments and uses rest on the systemic capabilities of bundled robotic and autonomous system technologies (e.g. advanced sensors machine vision, artificial intelligence, robotics) to see, know and intervene in the biophysical world in new ways. Synthesizing insights from existing literature, we develop a conceptual framework for understanding the "new ecologies of automation" and diverse, site-specific applications across what we call "operational ecologies." We then explore a range of diverse exemplars, creating a typology of operational ecologies before discussing key logics, themes and directions for critical research. More information: Andrew Lockhart et al, Towards new ecologies of automation: Robotics and the re-engineering of nature, Geoforum (2023).