Emily Atkinson - BBC News
Wed, November 8, 2023
Automated warehouse with robotic arms
A man has been crushed to death by a robot in South Korea after it failed to differentiate him from the boxes of food it was handling, reports say.
The incident occurred when the man, a robotics company employee in his 40s, was inspecting the robot.
The robotic arm, confusing the man for a box of vegetables, grabbed him and pushed his body against the conveyer belt, crushing his face and chest, South Korean news agency Yonhap said.
He was sent to hospital but later died.
According to Yonhap, the robot was responsible for lifting boxes of peppers and transferring them onto pallets.
The man had been checking the robot's sensor operations ahead of its test run at the pepper sorting plant in South Gyeongsang province, scheduled for 8 November, the agency adds, quoting police.
The test had originally been planned for 6 November, but was pushed back by two days due to problems with the robot's sensor.
The man, a worker from the company that manufactured the robotic arm, was running checks on the machine late into the night on Wednesday when it malfunctioned.
In a statement after the incident, an official from the Donggoseong Export Agricultural Complex, which owns the plant, called for a "precise and safe" system to be established.
In March, a South Korean man in his 50s suffered serious injuries after getting trapped by a robot while working at an automobile parts manufacturing plant.
Grocery Robot Crushes Robot Inspector to Death
Victor Tangermann
Thu, November 9, 2023
Rest in Peace
More and more companies are deploying robots to perform tasks alongside human coworkers. And those robot-worker interactions come with their own occupational hazards.
Case in point, a robotics company employee was crushed to death by a robot in a South Korean food handling factory after it failed to tell him apart from the box of vegetables it was handling at the time, the BBC reports.
The man, who was inspecting the robot, was reportedly grabbed and pushed against a conveyor belt, with the robot crushing both his face and chest.
It's a particularly grisly reminder of the very real dangers that workers face as their employers become increasingly automated — not to mention the challenges of building robotic systems that can safely operate in the same spaces as humans.
Death and Robots
The man was employed by the company that made the robotic arm, which was meant to lift boxes of peppers and transfer them onto pallets nearby. The company had noticed issues with the robot's sensors, leading to the employee checking its operations ahead of a test run, per the BBC.
It's far from the first time a robot killed a person. Back in 1979, a robot at a Ford casting plant malfunctioned, smashing into the head of a 25-year-old worker, an incident often recognized as the first time a robot killed a human.
In July 2015, a man died at a Volkswagen production plant in Germany after being grabbed and crushed against a metal plate by a stationary robot.
And chances are we're likely to see more incidents like it in the near future. The warehouse automation market is expected to balloon to a valuation of $34.4 billion by 2031 in the US and Europe, according to the latest research.
Manufacturers have become increasingly reliant on highly complex robots, which can take care of tasks like heavy lifting or assembling parts.
Some companies are planning to take this to its extreme — fully automated, "dark" factory floors that don't even require the lights to be on during operations.
"Complete automation is what we all want to get towards, we want no human beings and the whole thing being run autonomously," Atif Syed, CEO of England-based food packer company Wootzano, told CNBC last month.
But when these robots break down, experts say that humans will likely still be essential to get them working again. And that comes with its own risks, as the latest incident goes to show.
More on death and robots: Robot Kills Man at Volkswagen Plant...Human Error to Blame
An industrial robot crushed a worker to death at a vegetable packing plant in South Korea
KIM TONG-HYUNG
Updated Thu, November 9, 2023
This photo provided by the South Korea Gyeongsangnam-do Fire Department shows the interior of a vegetable packaging plant after a robot's deadly crush with a worker was reported, in Goseong, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. An industrial robot crushed a worker to death at a vegetable packaging plant in South Korea, police said Thursday, as they investigate whether the machine was unsafe or had potential defects.
(South Korea Gyeongsangnam-do Fire Department via AP)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An industrial robot grabbed and crushed a worker to death at a vegetable packaging plant in South Korea, police said Thursday, as they investigated whether the machine was defective or improperly designed.
Police said early evidence suggests that human error was more likely to blame rather than problems with the machine itself. But the incident still triggered public concern about the safety of industrial robots and the false sense of security they may give to humans working nearby in a country that increasingly relies on such machines to automate its industries.
Police in the southern county of Goseong said the man died of head and chest injuries Tuesday evening after he was snatched and pressed against a conveyor belt by the machine’s robotic arms.
Police did not identify the man but said he was an employee of a company that installs industrial robots and was sent to the plant to examine whether the machine was working properly.
South Korea has had other accidents involving industrial robots in recent years. In March, a manufacturing robot crushed and seriously injured a worker who was examining it at an auto parts factory in Gunsan. Last year, a robot installed near a conveyor belt fatally crushed a worker at a milk factory in Pyeongtaek.
The machine that caused the death on Tuesday was one of two pick-and-place robots used at the facility, which packages bell peppers and other vegetables exported to other Asian countries, police said. Such machines are common in South Korea’s agricultural communities, which are struggling with a declining and aging workforce.
“It wasn’t an advanced, artificial intelligence-powered robot, but a machine that simply picks up boxes and puts them on pallets,” said Kang Jin-gi, who heads the investigations department at Gosong Police Station. He said police were working with related agencies to determine whether the machine had technical defects or safety issues.
Another police official, who did not want to be identified because he wasn’t authorized to talk to reporters, said police were also looking into the possibility of human error. The robot’s sensors are designed to identify boxes, and security video indicated the man had moved near the robot with a box in his hands which likely triggered the machine’s reaction, the official said.
“It’s clearly not a case where a robot confused a human with a box -– this wasn’t a very sophisticated machine,” he said.
According to data from the International Federation of Robotics, South Korea had 1,000 industrial robots per 10,000 employees in 2021, the highest density in the world and more than three times the number in China that year. Many of South Korea's industrial robots are used in major manufacturing plants such as electronics and auto-making.
South Korean Man Crushed to Death by Factory Robot
Complex
Fri, November 10, 2023
CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Authorities are looking into the death of a South Korean man who was killed by an industrial robot.
According to NBC News, the incident occurred earlier this week at a produce packing in the southern county of Goseong. Officials have not released the victim’s name, but said he was a 40-something-year-old man who employed by a company that installs commercial robots. He reportedly went to the vegetable packing facility to check on some of the company’s machines and ensure they were working properly.
Outlets report that the factory was equipped a couple of “pick-and-place robots” that were used to package bell peppers and other vegetables that were sent around Asia. At one point during his visit, the man was grabbed by a robotic arm pressed against a convey belt. He sustained severe injuries to his chest and head, and ultimately died Tuesday.
“It wasn’t an advanced, artificial intelligence-powered robot, but a machine that simply picks up boxes and puts them on pallets,” said Kang Jin-gi, who heads the investigations department at Gosong Police Station.
Another law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the robot is designed to identify boxes and place them on pallets; however, he suspected the death was a result of human error, as surveillance footage captured the man moving in a way that might've triggered the robot's actions.
“It’s clearly not a case where a robot confused a human with a box — this wasn’t a very sophisticated machine,” he said.
South Korean officials are now trying to determine if the machine had any defects.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An industrial robot grabbed and crushed a worker to death at a vegetable packaging plant in South Korea, police said Thursday, as they investigated whether the machine was defective or improperly designed.
Police said early evidence suggests that human error was more likely to blame rather than problems with the machine itself. But the incident still triggered public concern about the safety of industrial robots and the false sense of security they may give to humans working nearby in a country that increasingly relies on such machines to automate its industries.
Police in the southern county of Goseong said the man died of head and chest injuries Tuesday evening after he was snatched and pressed against a conveyor belt by the machine’s robotic arms.
Police did not identify the man but said he was an employee of a company that installs industrial robots and was sent to the plant to examine whether the machine was working properly.
South Korea has had other accidents involving industrial robots in recent years. In March, a manufacturing robot crushed and seriously injured a worker who was examining it at an auto parts factory in Gunsan. Last year, a robot installed near a conveyor belt fatally crushed a worker at a milk factory in Pyeongtaek.
The machine that caused the death on Tuesday was one of two pick-and-place robots used at the facility, which packages bell peppers and other vegetables exported to other Asian countries, police said. Such machines are common in South Korea’s agricultural communities, which are struggling with a declining and aging workforce.
“It wasn’t an advanced, artificial intelligence-powered robot, but a machine that simply picks up boxes and puts them on pallets,” said Kang Jin-gi, who heads the investigations department at Gosong Police Station. He said police were working with related agencies to determine whether the machine had technical defects or safety issues.
Another police official, who did not want to be identified because he wasn’t authorized to talk to reporters, said police were also looking into the possibility of human error. The robot’s sensors are designed to identify boxes, and security video indicated the man had moved near the robot with a box in his hands which likely triggered the machine’s reaction, the official said.
“It’s clearly not a case where a robot confused a human with a box -– this wasn’t a very sophisticated machine,” he said.
According to data from the International Federation of Robotics, South Korea had 1,000 industrial robots per 10,000 employees in 2021, the highest density in the world and more than three times the number in China that year. Many of South Korea's industrial robots are used in major manufacturing plants such as electronics and auto-making.
South Korean Man Crushed to Death by Factory Robot
Complex
Fri, November 10, 2023
CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Authorities are looking into the death of a South Korean man who was killed by an industrial robot.
According to NBC News, the incident occurred earlier this week at a produce packing in the southern county of Goseong. Officials have not released the victim’s name, but said he was a 40-something-year-old man who employed by a company that installs commercial robots. He reportedly went to the vegetable packing facility to check on some of the company’s machines and ensure they were working properly.
Outlets report that the factory was equipped a couple of “pick-and-place robots” that were used to package bell peppers and other vegetables that were sent around Asia. At one point during his visit, the man was grabbed by a robotic arm pressed against a convey belt. He sustained severe injuries to his chest and head, and ultimately died Tuesday.
“It wasn’t an advanced, artificial intelligence-powered robot, but a machine that simply picks up boxes and puts them on pallets,” said Kang Jin-gi, who heads the investigations department at Gosong Police Station.
Another law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the robot is designed to identify boxes and place them on pallets; however, he suspected the death was a result of human error, as surveillance footage captured the man moving in a way that might've triggered the robot's actions.
“It’s clearly not a case where a robot confused a human with a box — this wasn’t a very sophisticated machine,” he said.
South Korean officials are now trying to determine if the machine had any defects.
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