Robots help people perform jobs more efficiently. However, when they are not monitored and managed properly they can prove highly dangerous. One such incident occurred in South Korea recently when a robot machine that was programmed to handle vegetable boxes filled with pepper and transfer them in pallets failed to differentiate between the vegetable box and a man.
This confusion led to the robot crushing the man to death. Due to a malfunction , the robot simply grabbed the body of the man and pushed him onto the conveyor belt, and eventually, the heart and head of the man were crushed. South Korean news agency Yonhap has reported that the man who was crushed was later sent to the hospital but could not be saved.
The incident occurred when the man who was handling the robot was checking the sensor of the machine. Reportedly, the robot’s test run was scheduled to take place on November 8 at the pepper sorting plant in the province of South Gyeongsang. A representative of the Dongseong Export Agricultural Complex where this particular incident occurred said that precise and safe systems must be installed to avoid such incidents.
It is not the first time that such incidents of malfunctioning robots have occurred in South Korea. Earlier in March this year a man aged around 50 suffered serious injuries when a robot trapped him while working at a company engaged in manufacturing automobile parts.
Repeated occurrences of such incidences have once again brought to the fore the importance of using technology with utmost care and precision. Any negligence or lack of concern can lead to more such incidences happening in the future. It also indicates that the robot or any machine needs to be thoroughly tested and tried before it is introduced in regular practice.