Machine Uprising - In Korea, a Robotic Packer Killed a Person
In South Korea, an industrial robot failed to distinguish between a person and a box of vegetables. The 40-year-old worker died from his injuries.
It is reported by the Independent.
According to the publication, the robotic "arm" was lifting boxes of pepper and transferring them to pallets, when it suddenly failed and lifted a person into the air instead of a container of vegetables.
As a result, the robot pushed the man onto the conveyor belt, crushing his face and chest. Immediately after the incident, the man was taken to a doctor, but his life could not be saved.
The accident occurred at an agricultural distribution centre in South Gyeongsang Province, Korea, when one of the robotics company's employees was checking the performance of sensors. The inspection was supposed to take place on 6 November, but was postponed due to reports of problems with the robot's sensor.
Following the incident, a representative of the Dongseong Export Agricultural Complex, which directly owns the distribution centre with the robots, called for a "precise and safe" system.
At the same time, a robotics expert from Carnegie Mellon University noted that "Robots have limited sensitivity and therefore limited awareness of what is happening around them."
Earlier this year, in May, a man in South Korea was also seriously injured after being trapped by a robot while working at an automotive parts factory.
According to a study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, at least 41 people in the United States were killed by various types of industrial robots between 1992 and 2017, with the largest percentage of deaths occurring during robot maintenance.
In October this year, a driverless Cruise robotaxi hit a woman in the centre of San Francisco and trapped her under the car, causing her to suffer serious injuries.
Immediately after the incident, the state authorities decided to suspend Cruise's operating license, banning it from operating unmanned taxis on public roads.