Robot incidents in 2019
The Machine Record holds 8 incidents involving commercial robots in 2019, most involving Ecovacs: 5 where a person was hurt, 1 of them fatal, and 1 that reached a regulator, a recall or a court.
Counts measure what was reported in English 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.
By kind of machine
- Industrial3
- Consumer1
- Delivery1
- Other1
- Robot arm1
- Service1
By company
- Ecovacs1
- Promobot1
- Starship Technologies1
- Tesla1
By outcome
- serious injury4
- property damage2
- fatality1
- no harm1
Cases
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 worker a person 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, a person, 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
- 2019-03-22A 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