Robot incidents in 2019
The Machine Record holds 9 incidents involving commercial robots in 2019, most involving Tesla: 6 where a person was hurt, 2 of them fatal, and 2 that reached a regulator, a recall or a court.
Counts measure what was reported in the press the register reads and cleared verification, not how many events took place. Fleet sizes are not public, so none of this is a rate. The rules are on the methodology page.
Reading the numbers
The 9 cases dated 2019 are spread over 7 months, with February 2019 the busiest at 2 and 5 months without a case. The newest case is dated 2019-11-01: At Tesla's Fremont, California plant in November 2019, a stack of three steel skids on an automated conveyor system knocked a worker down and dragged him more than 15 feet, seriously injuring both his legs.
Tesla accounts for 3 of the 9 cases (33%), followed by Ecovacs with 1; 4 cases name no company. By kind of machine, industrial robots make up 33% of the set, ahead of autonomous vehicles (2). Most cases are placed in the United States (6), with 1 other country represented.
In 44% of the cases someone was seriously hurt. 6 cases (67%) record a person hurt, 2 of them fatal. The most common type of event is investigation (2). 4 cases (44%) went beyond the first report to an investigation, a regulator, a recall, a fine or a court.
By kind of machine
By company
By outcome
Every case dated 2019
Newest first. Each one links to its timeline and to the sources it rests on.
- 2019-11-01At Tesla's Fremont, California plant in November 2019, a stack of three steel skids on an automated conveyor system knocked a worker down and dragged him more than 15 feet, seriously injuring both his legs.Lawsuit
- 2019-10-22Employee Incurs Concussion When Struck In Head By RobotInvestigation
- 2019-10-21A Starship Technologies food delivery robot waiting in a curb ramp on Forbes Avenue at Pitt's campus blocked the path of a wheelchair-using doctoral student, forcing her to alter her route to reach the sidewalk.Report
- 2019-06-03Two construction workers in Washington State were severely injured in separate incidents involving remote-controlled demolition robots: one was pinned against a wall with his chest severely crushed, and another suffered broken bones and nerve damage when a machine came down on his foot.Report
- 2019-04-25Tesla Model S Autopilot crash in Key Largo on April 25, 2019 killed one person and seriously injured another, resulting in a $243 million jury verdict against Tesla now under appeal in the 11th Circuit.Lawsuit
- 2019-03-22A newlywed employee at a Co Armagh firm was killed by a falling robot, resulting in the company being fined £50,000.Report
- 2019-02-14A Deebot Ecovac robotic vacuum is suspected of catching fire in a Fort Thomas, Kentucky home, causing damage to the property while the owner escaped unharmed.Report
- 2019-02-11Employee Is Pinned Against Heated Mold By Robotic Arm And SuInvestigation
- 2019-01-06A self-driving Tesla Model S struck and destroyed a Promobot v4 autonomous service robot in a parking lot street at 3000 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, while the robot was being transported to the Consumer Electronics Show venue.Report
New cases, once a week, by email
Every case added to the register in the last seven days, with its sources. Free, no account, and the register is the only sender.