Robot Kills Man At Volkswagen Plant

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Everyone laughs when I say "robots are going to KILL US ALL!" It's not so funny now, is it? Thanks to everyone that sent this one in.

A 22-year-old man was helping to put together the stationary robot that grabs and configures auto parts Monday when the machine grabbed and pushed him against a metal plate, the Associated Press reported. He later died from the injuries. Volkswagen did not release the man’s name.
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Oh no... the worst part is the person that tweeted is her name.... Sarah O'Conner. And no, she has not seen the movies....
 
I'm with Hyper .... why was that thing plugged in, in the first place?
 
A spokesperson for the car company told the Associated Press that the robot can be programmed for specific tasks and that the company believes the malfunction was due to human error.
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"The company believes"...yeah no shit it was human error unless the robot developed A.I. on it's own and decided to kill the man. Come on...
 
Lock Out Tag Out, anyone? OSHA has rules in place for this very reason; It's the guy's own fault for servicing something when he didn't follow the rules.
 
Mut1ny said:
"The company believes"...yeah no shit it was human error unless the robot developed A.I. on it's own and decided to kill the man. Come on...
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It most likely is a human error but there is always a chance that even if it was turned off the power button/emergency stop or something else was malfunctioning. Or intentionally bypassed. Safety features being temporarily bypassed because they prevented the machine from working happens, even if it should NEVER be done. But when the never ending deadlines breathe on our necks... :/ Hence the investigation.
 
Gee, I wonder what happens if we push this button.......

oh shit.

Should have read the manual.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Man gets injured working on engine while engine is running, sensationalistic headlines abound about how internal combustion engines are not safe!
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Hmm... maybe it was in Sleep Hibernate mode and woke up to sense someone was f**king with it. Just a thought... no, the future robot's programmed to think for itself. :eek:
 
Interacting with industrial robots while they are "on" is common and an everyday thing. I know the robots Ive worked on in the past where required to be on to facilitate tooling changes and such. But they were typically in manual and I manipulated them with the pendent...and the cell was open so they safety interlocks wouldnt let the robot go into run and do its thing.

Im guessing the guy was in the cell with the robot and had the doors closed therefore bypassing any safety stops.
 
Sounds kind of like this incident:

He was performing maintenance and states that he unplugged it and had the safety key in his pocket. It managed to activate without an apparent power source and, uh, shredded his arm up to the elbow before someone got him out. It's been reported that the, uh, machine is still running and we can't shut it down.
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Streiw said:
Lock Out Tag Out, anyone? OSHA has rules in place for this very reason; It's the guy's own fault for servicing something when he didn't follow the rules.
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Came here to post this. Lock out, tag out....it isn't rocket science.
 
Streiw said:
Lock Out Tag Out, anyone? OSHA has rules in place for this very reason; It's the guy's own fault for servicing something when he didn't follow the rules.
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^^^ This

Being prior Navy with Safety Officer training ( CTM ) this lock out tag out was the gospel. The CO will come down like a ton of bricks if anyone gun decked or blatantly ignored procedure. And yes we used OSHA training on a continuing basis.
 
Streiw said:
Lock Out Tag Out, anyone? OSHA has rules in place for this very reason; It's the guy's own fault for servicing something when he didn't follow the rules.
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Uh huh. Please, tell us more about how OSHA's rules apply to a plant in Germany.
 
They actually kept that robot in a cage, we must assume that wasn't done because of its gentle and kind nature.
 
The article mentioned the possibility of another human running the controls. So the robot was just a remote controlled weapon in a murder case.
 
Aren't you supposed to unplug/power off dangerous moving machinery before servicing it?
 
It could be murder. Someone plugged it in when he was working on it! Possibility...
 
amddragonpc said:
Press charges? Is this article a joke?
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They have to cover the standard TV trope angle: some dude reprograms the robot to kill someone in the factory they don't like :D

But back to reality: if they do a code audit and find a known issue that was ignored or covered-up, and and an Professional Engineer signed off on it, they could be held liable for negligence.
 
BenderKillsMan.jpg
 
Long story short. Robots don't give a shit.

Which is why I wonder the overwhelming rush to bring on the robot cars.
 
Thought of Steve the minute I saw this article. Jumped right over here to see if he'd caught it and posted about it--of course he had. And so it begins... .
 
I like how they emphasize this robot lives in a cage and the guy was in the cage with it when he was "attacked".. or whatever..
 
The best part of this story is some snarky guy getting owned by a "CaptNumbNutz"
 
The robot can be "powered on" and a worker around it. generally there is a perimeter interlock so if you are in the area of the robot, the e-stop would be on. The robot won't do anything on its own, My guess is someone started the cycle with the idiot in the robot's work path. On manual over ride the robot goes really slow. In full auto you can juice up the speed and power.

There is a special sort of osha for robot injuries. Someone will lose their job.
 
It should not be plug in when he go in the danger Zone. Anyway someone should activate the robot's sense or something.
 
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