TY - GEN
T1 - Value Sensitive Design of Unmanned Aerial Systems
AU - Cawthorne, Dylan
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - How can engineers create drones that will benefit society? The potential impacts of Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles (UAVs), or ”drones”, could range from enhancing human health, welfare, and safety, to facilitating mass surveillance and causing widespread unemployment. This thesis addresses some of the
changes that the technology could facilitate - and how to design drones that lead to more beneficial
outcomes. Value Sensitive Design (VSD), a well-established methodology for the proactive and systematic incorporation of human values into technology design, is identified as a useful approach to doing
so. VSD is based on the premise that technology is not ethically neutral, and therefore, that ethics and
human values must be considered in technology design. VSD includes three inter-related phases: 1. a
conceptual phase that considers human values and impacted stakeholders, 2. an empirical phase which
considers the social impacts of the technology, and 3. a technological phase which determines the design
requirements that will support the desired human values.
This work contributes to the conceptual, empirical, and technological phases of the value sensitive
design of drones, and is the first known application where VSD is explicitly used to design, build, and test
real drone prototypes. Two case studies are utilized: 1. that of a humanitarian cargo drone operated in
the Amazon region of Peru, and 2. that of a blood sample transportation drone to be used in Denmark.
This thesis contributes to the conceptual phase of VSD by developing an ethical framework for the
design of drones used in public healthcare contexts, such as Denmark. The framework is an applied
ethics tool which enhances VSD and eases the conceptual phase for drone engineers. It also develops
the applied ethics tool of capability caution - including five design principles - to complement VSD
and address some of the risk’s drones pose. This thesis contributes to the empirical phase of VSD by
generating early primary data - solicited from the general public - on how drones should be designed
to enhance explicability i.e. their accountability and intelligibility. Finally, this thesis contributes to
the technological phase of VSD by developing, building, and testing drone designs that better support
stakeholders’ values.
All of these contributions are aimed at making it easier for engineers to consider ethics during drone
development. This can lead to designs which represent new solutions to moral dilemmas, and allow the
creation of win-win situations. Ultimately, the aim is drones developed with society, that will benefit
society.
AB - How can engineers create drones that will benefit society? The potential impacts of Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles (UAVs), or ”drones”, could range from enhancing human health, welfare, and safety, to facilitating mass surveillance and causing widespread unemployment. This thesis addresses some of the
changes that the technology could facilitate - and how to design drones that lead to more beneficial
outcomes. Value Sensitive Design (VSD), a well-established methodology for the proactive and systematic incorporation of human values into technology design, is identified as a useful approach to doing
so. VSD is based on the premise that technology is not ethically neutral, and therefore, that ethics and
human values must be considered in technology design. VSD includes three inter-related phases: 1. a
conceptual phase that considers human values and impacted stakeholders, 2. an empirical phase which
considers the social impacts of the technology, and 3. a technological phase which determines the design
requirements that will support the desired human values.
This work contributes to the conceptual, empirical, and technological phases of the value sensitive
design of drones, and is the first known application where VSD is explicitly used to design, build, and test
real drone prototypes. Two case studies are utilized: 1. that of a humanitarian cargo drone operated in
the Amazon region of Peru, and 2. that of a blood sample transportation drone to be used in Denmark.
This thesis contributes to the conceptual phase of VSD by developing an ethical framework for the
design of drones used in public healthcare contexts, such as Denmark. The framework is an applied
ethics tool which enhances VSD and eases the conceptual phase for drone engineers. It also develops
the applied ethics tool of capability caution - including five design principles - to complement VSD
and address some of the risk’s drones pose. This thesis contributes to the empirical phase of VSD by
generating early primary data - solicited from the general public - on how drones should be designed
to enhance explicability i.e. their accountability and intelligibility. Finally, this thesis contributes to
the technological phase of VSD by developing, building, and testing drone designs that better support
stakeholders’ values.
All of these contributions are aimed at making it easier for engineers to consider ethics during drone
development. This can lead to designs which represent new solutions to moral dilemmas, and allow the
creation of win-win situations. Ultimately, the aim is drones developed with society, that will benefit
society.
KW - drones
KW - Value sensitive design (VSD)
KW - Ethics
M3 - Ph.D. thesis
PB - Syddansk Universitet. Det Tekniske Fakultet
ER -