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Sustainable Robotics

• Sustainable Robotics
  • General Motivation
  • Course Content
    • Introduction
      • Introduction to Sustainability Robotics
    • Emerging Sustainable Technologies
      • Edible Batteries
      • Biodegradable Electronics
      • Sustainable Actuators
      • Control, AI & Data
    • Conclusion
      • Sustainability Applications of Robotic Systems: Underwater Robotics
  • Quiz
  • Bibliography
  • Credits

General Motivation

This introductory animated video presents the motivation and vision behind the IEEE RAS University Course on Sustainability Robotics. It explores how the rapid growth of robotics and intelligent technologies is transforming society while also creating important environmental challenges, including rising energy consumption and the global increase of electronic waste. Starting from recent data on e-waste production, the video highlights the urgent need to rethink how robots and technological systems are designed, manufactured, used, and disposed of.

The introduction explains the concept of Sustainability Robotics as an emerging interdisciplinary field that combines sustainable robot design with the use of robotic technologies to address environmental and societal challenges. The video introduces key themes of the course, including recyclable and biodegradable materials, energy-efficient systems, life-cycle assessment, circular design strategies, self-healing technologies, and environmentally responsible manufacturing. It also presents real-world applications where robots can contribute to sustainability, such as ecosystem monitoring, precision agriculture, disaster response, and operations in extreme environments.

Through a forward-looking perspective, the animation envisions a future in which robots coexist with natural ecosystems in a regenerative and responsible way — using clean energy, repairing themselves, supporting biodiversity, and biodegrading safely at the end of their operational life. The introduction sets the stage for the course by encouraging students and researchers to develop a new generation of robotics technologies that are not only high-performing and intelligent, but also environmentally and socially sustainable.

_{Sustainability Robotics. Animation. IEEE RAS University Course on Sustainability Robotics. YouTube video. Available at: https://youtu.be/Cc9VsGApEdk?si=TCEs7AR8VhalW8Gm}

Course Content

Introduction

Introduction to Sustainability Robotics

Barbara Mazzolai, IIT

• Definition of sustainability robotics: sustainable robot design and robotic solutions for sustainability challenges
• Origins of sustainability and the Brundtland Report
• Environmental impact of modern technologies and e-waste growth
• Life-cycle approach in robotics inspired by biological systems
• Biodegradable soft robots and electronics-free systems for environmental applications

_{Introduction to Sustainability Robotics. Barbara Mazzolai, IIT. YouTube video. Available at: https://youtu.be/aT5GHh-rIeA?si=oZYh0M6WKBqrU3DR}

This introductory lesson presents the foundations of sustainability robotics, an emerging interdisciplinary field that combines sustainable robot design with the use of robotics to address environmental, social, and economic sustainability challenges. Barbara Mazzolai explains the origins of the concept of sustainability, the environmental impact of current technologies, and the need for a new generation of engineers capable of designing robots with a full life-cycle approach inspired by nature.

This lesson introduces the foundations of sustainability robotics as an emerging interdisciplinary field focused both on designing environmentally sustainable robots and on using robotics to address sustainability challenges. The lecture explores the origins of the concept of sustainability, the environmental impact of current technologies, and the need for a life-cycle approach inspired by nature. Through examples of bioinspired biodegradable robots, the lesson illustrates how robotics can contribute to biodiversity protection, precision agriculture, and environmental monitoring while reducing electronic waste.

Main topics covered:

• Definition of sustainability robotics through two complementary approaches: sustainable robot design and robotic solutions for sustainability challenges
• Origins and meaning of sustainability based on the Brundtland Report definition of sustainable development
• Relationship between biodiversity loss, climate change, and human well-being
• Environmental impact of modern technologies, with a focus on electronic waste growth
• Introduction of a life-cycle approach in robotics inspired by biological systems
• Future sustainable robotics technologies, including biodegradable materials, edible electronics, self-healing materials, and energy harvesting
• Bioinspired design principles for adaptive and environmentally integrated robots
• Case study on biodegradable soft robots inspired by plant seed dispersal mechanisms
• Use of electronics-free biodegradable robots for environmental sensing, reforestation, and precision agriculture
• Importance of interdisciplinary education and the role of “renaissance engineers” in sustainability robotics

Take-home message: Sustainability robotics requires rethinking the entire life cycle of robotic systems, from materials and energy to deployment and end-of-life management. By combining technological innovation with bioinspiration and environmental responsibility, robotics can become a powerful tool for supporting sustainable development.

Emerging Sustainable Technologies

Edible Batteries

Mario Caironi, IIT

• Sustainable energy storage using food-derived and non-toxic materials
• Edible electrochemical batteries: riboflavin, quercetin, and seaweed separators
• Biodegradation in seawater and safety of low-voltage systems
• Edible pneumatic batteries for soft robotic actuation
• Applications in wildlife medication delivery, food monitoring, and sustainable robotics

_{Edible batteries. Mario Caironi, IIT. YouTube video. Available at: https://youtu.be/Ei87ZhiTSBQ?si=pJQmlrDpu0mLPxl6}

This lesson introduces edible and biodegradable batteries as a novel approach to sustainable energy storage for robotics and electronics. Mario Caironi explains how edible electronics can reduce toxicity and electronic waste while enabling new applications in ingestible devices, food monitoring, and environmentally sustainable robotics.

This lesson introduces edible and biodegradable batteries as a novel strategy for sustainable energy storage in robotics and electronics. The lecture explores how food-derived and non-toxic materials can be used to create safe energy storage systems for ingestible electronics, environmental sensing, and emerging robotic applications. Through several case studies, the lesson highlights how edible electronics can reduce toxicity and electronic waste while enabling entirely new technological scenarios.

Main topics covered:

• Importance of sustainable energy storage alongside energy harvesting technologies
• Advantages and environmental limitations of conventional battery systems
• Toxicity risks associated with traditional batteries in ingestible electronics
• Development of edible electronics using food-derived and non-toxic materials
• Structure and chemistry of edible electrochemical batteries based on riboflavin and quercetin
• Use of edible materials such as seaweed separators and edible gold current collectors
• Safety advantages of low-voltage edible battery systems
• Improved battery prototypes capable of powering wireless environmental sensors
• Biodegradation tests demonstrating safe degradation in seawater
• Collaboration with culinary researchers to create fully edible battery systems
• Presentation of edible robotic demonstrations showcased at Expo 2025 Osaka
• Introduction to edible pneumatic batteries for soft robotic actuation
• Potential applications in wildlife medication delivery, food monitoring, sensing, and sustainable robotics

Take-home message: Edible and biodegradable batteries represent a promising pathway toward safer and more sustainable robotics, particularly for applications where conventional electronic waste and toxicity pose significant environmental or health concerns.

Biodegradable Electronics

Seung-Kyun Kang, Seoul University

• Environmental impact of conventional electronics and e-waste
• Transient electronics: dissolvable silicon and biodegradable materials
• Biodegradable capacitors, resistors, transistors, and wireless devices
• Biodegradable glider robots, soft grippers, and multifunctional robotic systems
• Circular lifecycle approaches and compostable robotic devices

_{Electronics. Seung-Kyun Kang, Seoul University. YouTube video. Available at: https://youtu.be/VxYdhLghPgI?si=ojXzk0Mtj5RLlxLT}

This lesson explores the emerging field of biodegradable and transient electronics for sustainable robotics. It explains how conventional electronic materials contribute to growing e-waste problems and introduces biodegradable alternatives that can safely dissolve or decompose after use. The lecture presents the scientific foundations of transient electronics, including dissolvable silicon and biodegradable electronic materials, alongside real-world examples of soft robots, sensors, and robotic systems designed for environmentally responsible end-of-life disposal. The lecture also discusses the remaining technical challenges related to durability, multifunctionality, and circular material lifecycles.

Electronics are essential components of robotic systems, functioning similarly to organs in the human body: sensors act as senses, processors act as the brain, power systems provide energy like the heart, and communication systems resemble neural networks. However, traditional electronics rely heavily on materials such as lead and cadmium, which create environmental and health risks when discarded. The lecture introduces biodegradable and transient electronics as a sustainable alternative for future robotic systems. These systems are designed to operate reliably during use and then intentionally dissolve, degrade, or disintegrate after their functional lifetime without leaving harmful waste behind. Particular attention is given to the discovery that ultra-thin silicon structures can dissolve in water under physiological conditions, enabling fully transient electronic systems. The lecture further explores the development of biodegradable semiconductors, metals, dielectrics, and polymers that can be integrated into conventional electronic components such as capacitors, resistors, transistors, and wireless stimulators. Several examples of biodegradable robotic systems are presented, including gliding environmental monitoring robots, soft grippers, and multifunctional biodegradable robotic fingers capable of sensing, heating, stimulation, and drug delivery. The lecture concludes by emphasizing that sustainable robotics must consider the entire lifecycle of robotic systems, including safe degradation, material recovery, and environmentally responsible disposal.

Main topics covered:

• Role of electronics in robotic systems
• Environmental impact of conventional electronics and e-waste
• Reuse, repair, recycling, and biodegradation strategies
• Definition and principles of transient electronics
• Discovery of dissolvable silicon technology
• Development of biodegradable electronic materials
• Biodegradable capacitors, resistors, transistors, and diodes
• Wafer-scale transient electronic systems
• Wireless biodegradable electronic devices
• Biodegradable glider robots for environmental monitoring
• Soft robotic grippers with integrated sensing
• Water-soluble robotic platforms
• Challenges of durability and reliability
• Multifunctional biodegradable robotic systems
• Circular lifecycle approaches for robotics materials
• Compostable robotic devices and environmental safety

Take-home message: Biodegradable and transient electronics represent a major step toward truly sustainable robotics. Rather than focusing only on robotic performance during operation, this approach considers the entire lifecycle of robotic systems, including their environmental impact after disposal. By combining biodegradable materials, dissolvable electronics, and circular lifecycle strategies, future robots may become high-performance systems that can safely return to nature or re-enter industrial material cycles at the end of their use.

Sustainable Actuators

Vicky Webster-Wood, Carnegie Mellon University

• Biodegradable materials: seaweed, gelatin, chitin, plants, bacteria, and fungi
• Gelatin-based artificial muscles and alginate soft actuators
• Embedded 3D printing and hydraulic biodegradable robotic grippers
• Biohybrid robotics using living skeletal muscle tissue
• Challenges in durability, scalability, and environmental sensitivity

_{Actuators. Vicky Webster-Wood, Carnegie Mellon University. YouTube video. Available at: https://youtu.be/qIFkt-VX398?si=C7QJWmGAI6M7Q-D3}

This lesson examines sustainable actuators for robotics, focusing on environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional motors, hydraulics, and pneumatic systems. It introduces biodegradable and biohybrid materials derived from natural sources such as seaweed, gelatin, chitin, plants, bacteria, and fungi. The lecture presents examples of sustainable actuator fabrication, including gelatin-based artificial muscles, alginate soft actuators, and biohybrid robotic systems powered by living muscle tissue. It also discusses the opportunities and challenges of creating robotic systems that are biodegradable, biocompatible, and suitable for environmentally sensitive applications.

Actuators are the components that enable robotic movement, converting energy into motion through mechanisms such as electromagnetism, pressure, heat, or electricity. Traditional actuators are typically made from non-renewable materials and synthetic polymers that are difficult to recycle and contribute to electronic waste and environmental pollution. The lecture introduces sustainable actuators as an alternative approach that uses biodegradable and biologically derived materials. These materials can be sourced from marine organisms, plants, agricultural by-products, and even living cells. Examples include gelatin derived from collagen, alginate extracted from brown seaweed, chitin from crustacean shells, and cellulose-based plant materials. Different fabrication methods for sustainable actuators are explored, including casting, extrusion, and advanced 3D printing techniques. The lecture presents examples of biodegradable grippers, artificial muscles, hydraulic soft actuators, and multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arms built from natural materials. The lecture also introduces biohybrid robotics, where living tissues such as skeletal muscle cells are directly integrated into robotic systems to produce movement. These living actuators can self-organize, mature, and respond to electrical stimulation, enabling controllable robotic motion.

Finally, the lecture discusses the main challenges facing sustainable actuators, including durability, environmental sensitivity, manufacturing scalability, and performance limitations, while emphasizing their potential for environmentally responsible robotics applications.

Main topics covered:

• Definition and role of actuators in robotics
• Environmental impact of conventional robotic actuators
• Sustainable materials derived from seaweed, plants, insects, fungi, and bacteria
• Difference between non-living biodegradable materials and living biomaterials
• Gelatin-based biodegradable actuators and artificial muscles
• Plant-derived materials for soft robotic systems
• Reduction of microplastics through biodegradable robotics
• Alginate actuators derived from brown seaweed
• Embedded 3D printing techniques for soft actuators
• Hydraulic biodegradable actuators and robotic grippers
• Biocompatibility and environmental safety of alginate systems
• Biohybrid robotics using living materials
• Microorganism-based robots and tissue-powered robots
• Skeletal muscle tissue as a robotic actuator
• Muscle growth, differentiation, and electrical stimulation
• Modular assembly of biohybrid robotic systems
• Challenges of sustainable actuators, including durability and scalability
• Environmental limitations of biodegradable materials
• Circular lifecycle approaches in robotics
• Applications in ecosystem monitoring, agriculture, and conservation

Take-home message: Sustainable actuators offer a promising path toward environmentally responsible robotics by replacing conventional synthetic materials with biodegradable and biologically derived alternatives. Through the integration of natural materials and living tissues, future robotic systems may become more compatible with ecosystems, reduce e-waste and microplastic pollution, and support sustainable applications in agriculture, conservation, and environmental monitoring.

Control, AI & Data

Egidio Falotico, SSSA

• Transition from classical model-based control to AI-driven learning
• Challenges of real-world deployment: hardware degradation and non-stationary data
• Sustainable AI: sparse representations, neuromorphic hardware, low-power computation
• Continual learning for long-term robotic adaptation
• Class, domain, and task incremental learning scenarios

_{Control, AI & data. Egidio Falotico, SSSA. YouTube video. Available at: https://youtu.be/vJ-nYTS-1Rg?si=g0J2zJsNeddzLD1R}

This lesson examines the relationship between artificial intelligence, robot control, and data in sustainable robotics. Egidio Falotico discusses how AI-driven learning systems are transforming robotics while also introducing new challenges related to computation, adaptability, energy consumption, and long-term sustainability.

This lesson examines how artificial intelligence, control systems, and data-driven learning are transforming modern robotics while introducing new sustainability challenges. The lecture discusses the transition from classical model-based robotics toward adaptive AI-driven systems capable of learning continuously in dynamic real-world environments. Particular attention is given to continual learning approaches that allow robots to adapt over time while reducing computational and energetic costs.

Main topics covered:

• Introduction to the relationship between control, artificial intelligence, and data in robotics
• Comparison between classical model-based control and AI-driven learning approaches
• Reinforcement learning and vision-language-action models for adaptive robotic behavior
• Challenges of deploying robots in real-world changing environments
• Effects of hardware degradation, sensor failures, and non-stationary data distributions
• Sustainable AI strategies including sparse representations, neuromorphic hardware, and low-power computation
• Continual learning as a method for long-term robotic adaptation
• Importance of reducing retraining costs and computational energy consumption
• Overview of replay, generative, regularization, architectural, and hybrid continual learning methods
• Explanation of class incremental, domain incremental, and task incremental learning scenarios
• Examples of robotic adaptation in object recognition, grasping, and manipulation tasks

Take-home message: Future sustainable robots must not only perform effectively, but also learn and adapt efficiently over time. Resource-aware artificial intelligence and continual learning will be essential for enabling long-term autonomous systems with reduced environmental and computational costs.

Conclusion

Sustainability Applications of Robotic Systems: Underwater Robotics

Cecilia Laschi, National University of Singapore

• Bioinspired soft robots for ocean exploration: octopus locomotion and manipulation
• Role of morphology and body mechanics in simplifying robotic control
• Electronics-free fluidic actuation using bistable valves
• Rhythmic robotic movements without electronic controllers
• Applications in oceanography, ecology, environmental monitoring, and pollution assessment

_{Sustainability applications of robotic systems: underwater robotics. Cecilia Laschi, National University of Singapore. YouTube video. Available at: https://youtu.be/016xUT64mlE?si=e_V_rdSRpx5NjarZ}

This lesson explores sustainable underwater robotics inspired by marine organisms, particularly benthic species such as octopuses. Cecilia Laschi explains how soft robotics and electronics-free actuation systems can enable environmentally compatible robots capable of operating in sensitive underwater ecosystems while minimizing ecological impact.

This lesson explores underwater robotics from a sustainability perspective, focusing on how bioinspired soft robotic systems can support ocean exploration and environmental monitoring while minimizing ecological impact. Inspired by benthic organisms such as octopuses, the lecture presents innovative underwater robots that exploit body morphology and fluid dynamics to achieve efficient locomotion with simplified control systems. The lesson also introduces electronics-free soft robotic actuation systems designed for sustainable underwater deployment.

Main topics covered:

• Importance of oceans for climate regulation, biodiversity, trade, food production, and energy
• Challenges of exploring and operating within the benthic zone of the ocean
• Inspiration from octopus locomotion and manipulation for underwater robotics
• Role of morphology and mechanical interaction with water in simplifying robotic control
• Examples of octopus-inspired robots using jet propulsion and soft-body locomotion
• Soft robotic systems with simple control architectures enabled by body mechanics
• Electronics-free fluidic actuation systems based on bistable valves
• Generation of rhythmic robotic movements such as walking and swimming without electronic controllers
• Potential use of biodegradable materials for underwater robotic systems
• Applications in oceanography, ecology, environmental monitoring, and pollution assessment

Take-home message: Bioinspired underwater robotics demonstrates how sustainable robotic systems can interact more harmoniously with natural ecosystems by combining soft materials, simple control strategies, and environmentally compatible designs.

Quiz

Question 1: What is an actuator?

Question 2: Which of the following are examples of sustainable actuators? (Select all that apply)

Question 3: Sustainable actuators can only be made out of soft materials.

Question 4: The source of connective tissue, skin, and bones as sustainable actuator is gelatin.

Question 5: Which of the following are common steps in the fabrication of skeletal muscle actuators? (Select all that apply)

Question 6: What is a biohybrid actuator?

Question 7: “Redox couple”, in the context of an electrochemical battery, is:

Question 8: Edible electronics aims at:

Question 9: Electrochemical batteries, with respect to other electrochemical storage devices, have the advantage of:

Question 10: Are there examples of truly edible electronic components?

Bibliography

• S. Gómez-Gijón, et al., MRS Communications 16, 155–166, (2026)
• Alina S. Sharova, et al., Adv. Mater. Technol. 6 (2021) 2000757
• D. Floreano et al., Nature Review Materials 9 (2024) 589
• Ivan Ilic, et al. Advanced Materials (2023) 2211400
• V. Galli, et al. Adv. Mater. Technol. 2024, 2400715
• Kwak, B., Galli, V., et al., Future Foods (2026) 100997
• F. Sousa, J. F. Malta, and A. P. C. Almeida, “When Cellulose Moves: Smart Sensors and Actuators,” Adv Materials Technologies, vol. 10, no. 23, p. e01426 (2025)
• Y. Peng, M. Miyatake, T. L. Peng, Q. Lu, Y. Yang, and L. Yao, “BioTube: Designing and Fabricating Biodegradable Hollow Tubular Devices Through Progressive Crosslinking Alginate,” in Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Yokohama Japan: ACM,vpp. 1–21 (2025)
• R. H. Heisser, M. Bawa, J. Shah, A. Bu, and R. Raman, “Soft Biological Actuators for Meter-Scale Homeostatic Biohybrid Robots,” Chem. Rev., vol. 125, no. 7, pp. 3976–4007 (2025)
• G. Ge et al., “BIOGEM: A Fully Biodegradable Gelatin-Based McKibben Actuator with Embedded Sensing,” in Proceedings of the 38th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, Busan Republic of Korea: ACM, pp. 1–15 (2025)
• R. Kanno, B. Kwak, M. Pankhurst, J. Shintake, and D. Floreano, “Edible Soft Actuators Based on Konjac Glucomannan for Underwater Operation,” Advanced Intelligent Systems, vol. 6, no. 5, p. 2300473 (2024)
• V. A. Webster-Wood et al., “Biohybrid robots: recent progress, challenges, and perspectives,” Bioinspir. Biomim., vol. 18, no. 1, p. 015001 (2023)
• W. Sun et al., “Biodegradable, Sustainable Hydrogel Actuators with Shape and Stiffness Morphing Capabilities via Embedded 3D Printing,” Adv Funct Materials, vol. 33, no. 36, p. 2303659 (2023)
• E. H. Rumley et al., “Biodegradable electrohydraulic actuators for sustainable soft robots,” Sci. Adv., vol. 9, no. 12, p. eadf5551 (2023)
• Z. Chen et al., “Multistimuli-Responsive Actuators Derived from Natural Materials for Entirely Biodegradable and Programmable Untethered Soft Robots,” ACS Nano, vol. 17, no. 22, pp. 23032–23045 (2023)
• F. Hartmann, M. Baumgartner, and M. Kaltenbrunner, “Becoming Sustainable, The New Frontier in Soft Robotics,” Advanced Materials, vol. 33, no. 19, p. 2004413 (2021)

Credits

Course coordinators: Barbara Mazzolai - Italian Institute of Technology Bram Vanderborght - Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Imec Mirko Kovac - EPFL Aude Billard - EPFL

Course production: Giulia Bonelli and Nicola Nosengo for formicablu srl

Acknowledgements: Thank you to all the experts who have contributed with their lectures

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