Building a Better Robot - One That Won't Murder You
Occupational hazards exist in every industry, and we used to adhere to the notion of “acceptable losses” for certain projects. Over 20,000 people are estimated to have died under the French leadership of the Panama Canal’s construction, and another 6,000 when the Americans finally finished it in 1914 — two years ahead of its target date. Fifteen years later, five men perished during the construction of the Empire State Building, which was pretty good for the time.
However, acceptable workplace-related deaths aren’t really in style anymore. One causality is too many in today’s post-OSHA world, whether you’re in the U.S. or living beyond its borders. Such was the case two years ago when a robot crushed a 22-year-old man to death at a Volkswagen assembly plant. As a result, VW and other automakers are closely watching the efforts of Germany’s Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics in order to build a safer robot.
Two employees, Roman Weitschat and Hannes Hoeppner, have taken it upon themselves to start a new company with the aim of developing a system to protect line workers from a rogue mechanical arm. The firm, Cobotect GmbH, claims it will use airbags to shield humans from the hard bits of a robot and has already developed a working prototype.
“A lot of people were complaining about unsafe robots and robot tools,” Weitschat said in an interview with Bloomberg.
Essentially, the system inflates a cocoon of padding around the end of the arm prior to any action the machine might take, deflating it whenever it needs to make contact with its workspace. Ideally, the company says it hopes to help machines and humans work more closely together. Weitschat said some robotic arms are prohibited from operating in the same areas as people due to the risk of injury. If they can perfect their system, they want to change that — making factories safer and more flexible.
However, watching the video of the prototype in action is a little less impressive than it sounds. It deserves a pass, since this is just a proof of concept, but seeing a small robotic arm bop a man on the forehead with an air-filled glove doesn’t scream “life-saving technology.”
It was good enough to raise a few automotive eyebrows, however. The pair of researchers say they’re still trying to find a strategic investor for their company in order to facilitate large-scale production of the system. But they’ve had a few bites on the line, especially from German auto manufacturers, according to Weitschat.
Among those most interested is Volkswagen. The company said it is “in contact with Cobotect and is watching their developments for safety,” according to a VW spokesperson. Presumably, automakers outside of Europe would also be interested in this sort of technology, assuming it works as well as Cobotect hopes.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there have been 38 robot-related incidents in the country between 1987 and 2016. That’s small potatoes when you compare it to the nearly 5,000 job-related injuries in 2015 alone. But being able to design factory floor plans that don’t isolate inorganic and organic employees could be a boon to the industry — and save a few lives in the process.
[Image: Toyota]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Yeah, thanks for the clickbait headline. No human has ever been murdered by a robot, and isn't ever going to be until a robot is capable both of forming premeditated intent and of following through on it. Here's hoping that when that time comes, Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics are in force. For reference: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
The reality is different from the first few paragraphs of the article. Death on the job may be "out of style" but it continues to happen. Usually in situations where OSHA is not around. I still read the newspapers and, just in the county I live, several people are killed every year on the job. A common incident is a collapse of an excavation on a construction site. Or someone crushed by farm equipment. These do not make the national news. Often there is a complicated web of sub-contractors. Who will fade away or declare bankruptcy avoiding fines. The only instance I recall where criminal charges were brought was when supervisors at a waste disposal company, "recycling", instructed workers to mix then unknown liquids into a tank truck. Which a short time later exploded. Some of the upper managers were in jail for a few days and paid some serious fines, probably by insurance. Also TTAC had an article a few months ago which linked to a long magazine article about auto manufacturer supplier-vendors. It described the death of a young woman who was trying to get a stuck machine operating. That seems to be the time when a lot of the injuries occur, during repairs or maintenance. IIRC the machine that killed the woman was supposedly "locked off".