Trustworthy Human-Robot Teams Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Trustworthy Autonomous Systems (TAS) programme: Trustworthy Human-Robot Teams
IRAS ID
297358
Contact name
Paul Luff
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The aim of this project is to explore the different aspects related to trust within and towards human robot teams with a particular focus on the use of robots in surgery.
Although robotic systems are now widely deployed within particular kinds of surgery, the autonomy these provide are still at levels mainly under direct control of the surgeon (Connor et al. 2020). For example, the most popular surgical robot deployed in around 5000 operating theatre is the da Vinci® robot, developed by Intuitive Surgical. This is a ‘master–slave’ system (providing level 1 autonomy – ‘robot assistance’ (Connor et al. 2020)) where the surgeon sits at a console to control the robot arms. The Da Vinci system replaces more direct forms of laparoscopic surgery. However, efforts to develop more autonomous surgical systems are not new. Indeed, over 20 years ago a system called PROBOT was tested with level 2 autonomy (task autonomy) and there have been recent trials with systems with level 3 autonomy (conditional autonomy) (Particiu 2007, Gilling 2018, Desai 2019). Great integration of more autonomous systems in surgery poses new problems. These challenges are not just technical, but also one of acceptance by clinicians, regulatory bodies, hospital administrators and patients (Hindmarsh 2014).
It is these novel challenges that this research project seeks to explore through a mixed methods qualitative analysis, including ethnographic observations and the collection and analysis of video data. The study will look at human-robotic interactions in relation to surgical robots. Study methodology will involve analysis of current practice to gather information on the undertaking of robot-assisted surgical operations, with a focus on trust as an interactional and practical accomplishment within teamwork during operations. Furthermore, simulated exercises will be undertaken with surgical robots and relevant clinicians (surgeons, assistant surgeons, scrub nurses, nurses, anaesthetists, medical trainees and nursing trainees).REC name
East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/EM/0015
Date of REC Opinion
23 Feb 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion