Its a new year, were now living in the future, the future is here, and now its gone - the
future is next year.
The point is, things are always changing - in the past 20 years, robots have become such
an important part of our lives that many people don't even notice all the times they interact
with them.
I think its safe to say that generally speaking, theyre great - but that doesnt make for an
interesting video, does it?
Its my job to point out the bad things - my name is Danny Burke and this is the Top 10
Scary Robots That Lost Control.
Starting off at number 10 we have The Robot Cannon[a].
In 2008, a tragedy in South Africa occured when a Robotic Cannon malfunctioned killing
9 soldiers and injuring a further 15.
It was the first day on which the soldiers had used live ammunition on the anti aircraft
gun.
As the guns fired, one of them had a stoppage.
This happens sometimes and technicians came out to fix the gun.
This time though, after the gun was fixed and began firing again, it swung wildly to
the left.
One barrel fired a burst of 15 to 20 shots in one eight of a second.
Thats all it took to kill the 9 soldiers and injure 15 others who were operating the other
guns to left of the malfunctioning one.
.
Moving on to number 9 we have The Robot Surgeon[b].
In 2015, news broke of a Robot Surgeon that killed 144 patients and injured a further
1,391.
Basically, if this robot was a person it would be one of the worst killers of all time.
Technically speaking though, this wasnt all due to one single robot.
Those deaths and injuries were from many different robots used during surgery in the US.
If you want to talk about specific robots, there was an example in this study of a mechanical
surgeon that killed 2 people and injured 52 others when it kept powering down mid operation
or making an incorrect movement.
Another common case that caused 1 death and 119 injuries were pieces of the robot falling
off into the patient requiring a human surgical team to intervene and retrieve the broken
hardware.
The good news is that with every mistake, technicians and engineers are learning invaluable
lessons about how to make these robot surgeons as safe as they can possibly be in the future
…
Moving on to number 8 we have Volkswagen[c].
In 2015, a Robot killed a contract worker at a Volkswagen production plant in Germany.
The 22 year old male was part of a team that was setting up the robot when it grabbed him
and crushed him to death against a metal plate.
The initial report from the company blamed human error.
A spokesperson said that the robot normally operated within a confined area at the plant
where its job was to grab car parts and manipulate them.
This tragedy saw the young man suffering severe injuries to his chest.
He was rushed to hospital but ultimately died from his wounds.
At the time, this was thought to be the first death in Europe caused by a robot machine
- even though its owners said it was human error …
Next up at number 7 we have Electrocution[d].
In 2015, it was reported that a man in India had been killed by a robot at a car parts
factory in India.
The 24 year old worker was adjusting a metal sheet when the robot holding the sheet stabbed
him in one of his arms.
One of his colleagues explained to the local newspaper that one of the sheets got dislodged
and that the man had tried to reach from behind the machine to adjust it - thats when the
welding sticks punched forward into the mans abdomen.
At this point in the story, some people claim that the man was then electrocuted.
The company kept details of the story tightly under wraps and so there has been no way to
confirm the ultimate cause of death.
In the aftermath, Police reviewed CCTV footage of the factory and interviewed co workers
to ensure that nothing illegal was taking place.
Moving on to number 6 we have the Bear Spray[e].
In December 2018, it was reported that 24 Amazon employees were hospitalized when a
robot malfunctioned, spraying their workplace with bear repellent that put one in a critical
condition.
Its said that the robot accidentally tore open a 9 ounce can of bear repellent at an
Amazon warehouse in New Jersey.
This exposed 55 employees to concentrated capsaicin, the active ingredient in pepper
spray.
Thirty employees were treated on the scene, 24 were taken to hospital as a precaution
and one was reported to be in critical condition.
Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured.
Moving on to number 5 we have The Factory[f].
In December 2018, a shocking story came out of China where a factory worker was skewered
with ten steel spikes after a robot malfunctioned and impaled him.
Incredibly, the 49 year old man managed to survive the initial accident.
Surgeons worked quickly to remove the steel spikes and found that one of them was just
0.04 inches from a major artery.
Each of the steel bars measured 30cm in length and 1.4cm in diameter.
The accident occured when the robotic arm collapses on the man, sending its spikes piercing
through him.
Surgeons struggled to figure out how to examine his inside due to the fact that they couldn't
x ray him because of the steel spikes.
An emergency surgery saved his life the next day - I don't know what happened to the robot
…
Moving on to number 4 we have McDonalds[g].
This story comes from 2009 where an employee for a company that supplies McDonalds was
killed by a malfunctioning robot.
Ana Maria Vital of La Puente was pronounced dead after sustaining crushing injuries.
They were caused by boxing machinery after Ana tried to remove a box that had been lodged
in the machinery.
The scene was quickly contained and employees were turned away at the entrance.
One employee who witnessed the event said that when the box moving robot grabbed Ana,
mechanics tried to remover her from the machinery but it was too late.
A spokesperson for the company said -We are deeply saddened by this tragic accident that
occurred at our manufacturing plant in the city of Industry.
On behalf of our entire organization, we want to express our deepest sympathies to the family
and friends of the individual involved in this unfortunate incident.-
Next up at number 3 we have Uber[h].
In March 2018, Uber made the news for all the wrong reasons when one of their self driving
cars killed a woman in the street in Arizona.
The local police said the self driving car was in autonomous mode at the time of the
crash but there was a human in the drivers seat.
The victim was walking outside of the cross walk and later died in hospital.
As a result, the company said it was pausing its self driving car operations across a number
of US cities.
The police investigation revealed that yes the woman was actually walking outside of
the crosswalk area with a bicycle when she was hit.
Many people have said that this isnt a good enough exscuse for autonomous vehicles and
that they need to be worked on a lot more if they cant prepare for humans breaking the
rules of the road, even a little bit.
Moving on to number 2 we have Kenji Urada[i].
Thats the name of the man that was checking on a malfunctioning robot arm at the Kawasaki
vehicle plant in Akashi Japan in 1981.
The machine had been turned off but as Kenji leapt over a chain fence to inspect the robot,
he accidentally hit the switch that activated it.
As a result, he was almost instantly pinned against a machine for processing automobile
gears and was crushed to death before his co workers could do anything.
At first, there was a lot of criticism towards the company about their safety protocols.
Others defended them and pointed out that the robot was designed so that if the gate
on the chain fence was opened, it would lose power.
If Kenji had opened the gate rather than jump right over the fence, the arm could not have
possibly been activated, even if he knocked the switch.
And finally at number 1 we have Wanda Halbrook[j].
In 2015, tragedy struck at Ventra Ionia, a company which specialized in the welding and
stamping of truck bumpers.
57 year old Wanda Halbrook was the victim of a robot malfunctioning.
It hit and crushed her head, killing her.
She left behind a husband, three children and grandchildren.
The most upsetting thing for her family was the lack of answers.
Her husband ended up suing 5 robotics companies which he believed all played a role in his
wifes death due to the negligence by those who designed, built, tested and monitored
the robots.
He said he wanted to make sure nothing like this happens to another family.