The article proposes a criterion for managing a robotic system, which, based on the information approach, allows to take into account the influence of uncontrolled factors and statistical connections between them in the process of obtaining information. In this article, the choice of strategy for managing a robotic system in the process of obtaining information provides an indicator that characterizes the effectiveness of management. At the same time, the presence of uncontrolled factors (obstacles, weather conditions, technical malfunctions etc.), which are taken into account in the formal mathematical model of management, leads to the dependence of the efficiency indicator not only on the chosen management strategy, but also on the values of uncontrolled factors. At the same time, both the chosen management strategy and the indicator of the efficiency of the process of obtaining information are functions from uncontrolled factors. Using the proposed criterion allows you to make the right decisions in the process of managing a robotic system in the event of the influence of uncontrolled factors. The developed criterion can be applied in the conditions of statistical dependence of uncontrolled factors and changes of states of the investigated process. This criterion does not require the construction of models based on evaluated combinations of factors, which significantly reduces the time and computing costs for decision-making in the process of managing a robotic system. Its use allows determining how much new observation will increase awareness of the robotic system in relation to the state of the process being studied. Prospects for further research may consist of modifying the existing and developing new methods for planning the use of a robotic system based on the proposed criterion.