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Man killed by a factory robot in Germany

8 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/man-killed-by-a-factory-robot-in-germany.192418/

sling-shot
sling-shot Original post #1
Jul 3, 2015 at 8:38 PM
Man killed by a factory robot in Germany
Volkswagen attributes the death to human error.

by Megan Geuss - Jul 2, 2015 5:42am IST

On Wednesday, Volkswagen said that a 22-year-old external contractor for the company had been killed by a robot at a production factory in Baunatal, Germany. Heiko Hillwig, a VW spokesperson speaking to the AP about the incident, said that the robot grabbed the worker and crushed him against a metal plate. The worker died later at a nearby hospital due to complications from his injuries.

Hillwig told the AP, "initial conclusions indicate that human error was to blame.” He added that the contractor was helping set up the robot and was inside the metal safety cage that usually separates personnel from the metal-manipulating robots. Another worker was present when the incident occurred, but because he was behind the barrier, he was unharmed. Ars has reached out to Volkswagen but has not yet received a response.

Read more here Man killed by a factory robot in Germany | Ars Technica
skeletor
Jul 4, 2015 at 1:37 AM
Skynet strikes.
Desmond
Desmond #3
Jul 4, 2015 at 3:37 AM
AI doesn't have that level of sentience at this time. Its obviously human error just as the article states.
Nerevarine
Jul 4, 2015 at 4:16 AM
its basically the exact same thing as a car accident
Nerevarine
Jul 4, 2015 at 12:04 PM
Most robots arent self driven, just like most cars cannot be self driven...
Robots do not possess intuition to make decisions on their own, someone screwed up at their job, hence the accident
Vyom
Vyom #7
Jul 4, 2015 at 12:48 PM
Skynet strikes.

Ripe time for a Terminator joke? Nah... I don't think so.
RIP that guy.

- - - Updated - - -

But.. :O

The story gained some morbid attention earlier today when a Financial Times employment reporter named Sarah O’Connor tweeted the story, not realizing the connection between her name and character who has a similar name (Sarah Connor) in the Terminator series. Her tweet was retweeted more than 3,500 times and she received an influx of messages making jokes about the news. "Feeling really uncomfortable about this inadvertent Twitter thing I seem to have kicked off,” she tweeted later today. "Somebody died. Let's not forget.”
Faun
Faun #8
Jul 4, 2015 at 1:16 PM
Rise of the machines /s