Commercial robot incidents, Q2 2024
Q2 2024: 7 documented incidents involving commercial robots (-30% on the quarter before), 2 with a person hurt and 0 fatal. 1 reached a regulator, a recall or a court. Most involved Ecovacs (1). Largest class: autonomous vehicle (3).
Incidents are counted by the date they happened, 2024-04-01 to 2024-06-30. 0 cases were published to the register during the quarter, including older events documented for the first time. Counts measure what was reported in English and cleared verification; fleet sizes are not public, so nothing here is a rate. Rules on the methodology page. Previous quarter for comparison: Q1 2024.
By kind of machine
- Autonomous vehicle3
- Consumer2
- Other1
- Service1
By company
- Ecovacs1
- Waymo1
- Zoox1
By outcome
- property damage3
- no harm2
- minor injury1
- serious injury1
The cases that reached furthest
Ordered by severity, then by how many independent sources the case rests on.
- 2024-04-16A 54-year-old man with a T10 complete spinal cord injury sustained bilateral proximal tibial fractures during a powered robotic exoskeleton physiotherapy session, requiring manipulation under anaesthetic and 12 weeks of non-weight-bearing treatment.Report
- 2024-05-13A Zoox autonomous test vehicle equipped with Amazon's automated driving system stopped suddenly in San Francisco and was rear-ended by a motorcyclist who suffered minor injuries to their hands, prompting an NHTSA investigation opened on May 10, 2024.Investigation
- 2024-06-08A cleaning robot caught fire while charging in Ward 76 of Singapore General Hospital, activating the sprinkler system and prompting evacuation of patients, with no injuries reported.Follow-up
- 2024-05-21A driverless Waymo Jaguar I-Pace robotaxi collided with a telephone pole at 8 MPH while performing a low-speed pullover maneuver in an alley in Phoenix, sustaining damage but causing no injuries.Recall
- 2024-04-22A robot vacuum cleaner knocked a heat gun onto the floor of a Kailua home, causing it to turn on and start a fire that resulted in approximately $760,000 in damage to the structure and contents.Report
- 2024-05-24Hackers remotely took control of Ecovacs Deebot X2 robot vacuums in multiple US cities, using their speakers to yell racial slurs at owners and their cameras to surveil homes.Follow-up
Whose incidents reach consequences
Share of a company's recorded incidents, across the whole register, that reached a regulator, a recall or a court. Companies with fewer than the threshold of cases are left out. Register total: 280 cases, 39 escalated.
- Zoox5/9 · 56%
- Cruise3/10 · 30%
- Tesla2/15 · 13%
- Starship Technologies1/9 · 11%
- Waymo5/69 · 7%
- Unitree Robotics0/11 · 0%
What the operators wrote in their own crash reports
1437 crash reports filed with NHTSA by 17 operators under the Standing General Order, read by theme. The federal file has one structured column for what was struck; these counts exist nowhere else.
- Emergency responders on scene, most often Waymo LLC128
- Stopped or blocking traffic, most often Waymo LLC124
- A pedestrian involved, most often Waymo LLC59
- A cyclist or scooter rider, most often Waymo LLC41
- Rear-ended by another vehicle, most often Zoox, Inc.36
- Roadworks, cones or a closure, most often Waymo LLC24
All 7 incidents dated Q2 2024
Newest first. Each one links to its timeline and to the sources it rests on. Case metadata is CC BY 4.0; cite the register by its DOI, 10.5281/zenodo.22925531.
- 2024-06-08A cleaning robot caught fire while charging in Ward 76 of Singapore General Hospital, activating the sprinkler system and prompting evacuation of patients, with no injuries reported.Follow-up
- 2024-05-24Hackers remotely took control of Ecovacs Deebot X2 robot vacuums in multiple US cities, using their speakers to yell racial slurs at owners and their cameras to surveil homes.Follow-up
- 2024-05-21A driverless Waymo Jaguar I-Pace robotaxi collided with a telephone pole at 8 MPH while performing a low-speed pullover maneuver in an alley in Phoenix, sustaining damage but causing no injuries.Recall
- 2024-05-13A Zoox autonomous test vehicle equipped with Amazon's automated driving system stopped suddenly in San Francisco and was rear-ended by a motorcyclist who suffered minor injuries to their hands, prompting an NHTSA investigation opened on May 10, 2024.Investigation
- 2024-04-22A robot vacuum cleaner knocked a heat gun onto the floor of a Kailua home, causing it to turn on and start a fire that resulted in approximately $760,000 in damage to the structure and contents.Report
- 2024-04-17Six Waymo robotaxis blocked traffic at a San Francisco freeway on-ramp.Report
- 2024-04-16A 54-year-old man with a T10 complete spinal cord injury sustained bilateral proximal tibial fractures during a powered robotic exoskeleton physiotherapy session, requiring manipulation under anaesthetic and 12 weeks of non-weight-bearing treatment.Report