Posted on 07/02/2015 7:44:05 AM PDT by palmer
A technician died from injuries sustained while working on a robot at Volkswagen's factory in Kessel, Germany, according to media reports.
The reports indicated that two men, who worked for an outside contractor, were installing the robot when the mechanism struck one of them in the chest and pressed him against a metal plate.
The 21-year-old man, who was working within the metal safety cage confining the robot, later died from the accident.
His co-worker was outside the metal cage and unharmed. Prosecutors are investigating the incident.
Volkswagen officials said that the robot did not have a technical defect and that it was not one of the company's new lightweight robots that aid workers on production lines.
Yes, if course. Thanks for the correction and reminder.
Not saying lock-out should be ignored, just that sometimes the task can't be completed without the device being energized, and a safety function disabled or a person at risk.
At least one of those guys screwed up (the one killed), maybe both.
I drilled through a piece of titanium alloy and got a refresher recently.
Reportedly, the deceased technicians final word were “Hier Halten Sie mein Bier.”
As you point out, saying the robot operated as designed doesn’t get to the bottom of it. There are external inputs to the robot function. Mode (auto, teach, manual); permissives (barriers, pressure mats, light curtains, scanners), and design intent for that entire system, including needs for teach and troubleshoot. The robot manufacturer is off the hook, but whoever designed the box that has the robot in it, they are going to be in the hot seat.
If one places their body or one of its extremities in the path of any large machine, death or grave injury will be the result. The fact that this was a ‘robot’ is inconsequential.
When will robots be demanding to be treated as the latest victim group? when will they demand the right to marry?
Have you seen the video of....
“Robot” means slave. Just sayin’.
I read that as their opening statement to defuse liability.
In speaking with the family, I am sure they were more solicitous.
I have limited experience working with it but enough to know it’s aptly named. Incredible stuff.
When I worked with robots only a couple of us were ever allowed in the cages (We called them caves) when they were operational. There was plenty of room to move around them but you had to be aware of where they were in their work cycle.
They mostly moved in a small area swinging slowly from left to right as they worked because they painted parts on a line. The right to left swing back to start the next set of parts was where the real danger was because it was a fast sweeping motion.
Where I work, it’s LOTOTO: Lock out, tag out, try out. After everything is locked out properly, you try to start up whatever it is before you work on it.
It’s serious business. Violating LOTOTO will get you fired, which is much better than a fatal accident.
Everything was going fine until the guy outside the cage hit the “kill” switch.
FarfigSchrecklichkeit?
What were you doing? Adjusting the paint guns?
What’s German for “Lock out, Tag out”?
They call it hazardous energy for a reason.
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