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Industrial robot crushes man to death in South Korean distribution centre
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2023
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This seems like a series a mishaps. If it crushed him, what would it have done to a box of peppers? It says he was inspecting sensors. Was something already going on? If so, maybe protocol needed to be different. What a tragedy.
Without knowing the setup, it's all guesswork- But if I had to guess, the program the robot ran through would be a series of movements that results in a box that is this size and this shape in this position being moved perfectly well to this particular spot.
Humans are not that size, that shape, or in that position.
I've not worked industrial in Asia, but where I have worked there has been stringent protocols around locking out machinery that has the potential to kill. For someone to enter a hazardous area, they have to remove any potential source of energy (eg, disconnecting power to motors, draining hydraulic pressure, lowering suspended loads, etc) and use a lock that only they have access to to prevent that energy returning. I'm guessing that this incident either did not have that procedure in place, or it was in place but not followed correctly.
You are likely very correct. These robots are dumb. They do the same repetitive task over and over to a high degree of precision. Flag a photo eye and it'll start the sequence to pick up a box.
This is either a lock out issue or a design issue and it is irrelevant that it was a robot.
From my experience, lock out tag out is much less respected in Asia, at least in Taiwan. They want the machine back up as fast as possible
Various parts of the US too, especially in distribution centers. It got a bit bad out there.
Sheesh. After only a few slipups with knives, I take dangerous stuff seriously. I'd be nervous around even unpowered industrial equipment that could kill me! I'll never understand people who can sherk safety protocols of all things, but then the people pushing the rules seldom care if the unproductive rules like safety are followed... At least when you see news like this.
It's crazy to me because LOTO only takes a few minutes in my experience. But anything to save time I guess
I cannot wait until humanity is rid of capitalist brain... Five minutes of saved time ignoring safety protocol is DEFINITELY worth more than decades of a nerd's life who's interested in mechanics/robotics/etc. ... freaking insane people, all of them.
Having been near an industrial robot arm, it does make me nervous even if it's powered off. It's a giant hunk of steel that has the strength to probably lift up a car and more, nevermind crush your bones.
You are never supposed to be this close to a non collaborative robot during operation. Never ever. There are a ton of safety standards around deadmanning operations if someone breaches the Arms workspace. At least here in the US they are enforced through OSHA.
If this keeps happening in South Korea, I would guess it is an issue with however their safety operations are enforced. But you should never even get close to a robot like this while it is running without a light wall or something ready to trip. Even then, most places have the cells fenced off.