Robot incidents in 2021
The Machine Record holds 11 incidents involving commercial robots in 2021, most involving Tesla: 5 where a person was hurt, 2 of them fatal, and 3 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
- Surgical3
- Industrial2
- Robot arm2
- Autonomous vehicle1
- Delivery1
- Service1
- Warehouse AMR1
By company
- Tesla2
- Boston Dynamics1
- Intuitive Surgical1
- Ocado1
- Pony.ai1
- Starship Technologies1
By outcome
- property damage4
- serious injury3
- fatality2
- no harm2
Cases
Every case dated 2021
Newest first. Each one links to its timeline and to the sources it rests on.
- 2021-12-31A Tesla software engineer was attacked by a robot at Tesla's a person factory in Austin when a third robot that had not been disabled pinned him and sank its metal claws into his back and arm, causing lacerations.Lawsuit
- 2021-10-29Zimmer surgical robot subject to Class I recall due to a software glitch.Recall
- 2021-10-28A Pony.ai autonomous vehicle operating in driverless mode struck a center divider and traffic sign on a person in Fremont, California, sustaining moderate damage with no injuries reported.Report
- 2021-09-01A da Vinci surgical robot allegedly burned and tore a person's small intestine during colon cancer surgery in Florida in September 2021, leading to additional procedures and her death in February 2022, prompting a wrongful death lawsuit against Intuitive Surgical.Lawsuit
- 2021-09-01A Starship Technologies autonomous delivery robot was struck by a Ford Escape at the University of Kentucky, damaging the robot's wheels, while it appeared to have the right of way.Report
- 2021-07-20Three warehouse robots collided on top of an automated grid system at Ocado's Erith facility, causing a fire that damaged part of the grid and forced thousands of order cancellations.Report
- 2021-07-14Hospitals sue surgical robot maker over allegedly restrictive contractsReport
- 2021-04-08Employee Incurs Concussion When Struck By Robotic ArmInvestigation
- 2021-02-24During the 'Spot's Rampage' interactive art exhibit in a Brooklyn studio, a Boston Dynamics Spot robot equipped with a paintball gun malfunctioned and collapsed on its side approximately one hour after users began remotely controlling it to destroy artwork inside the space.Report
- 2021-01-14Employee Is Killed When Caught In Between Okura Robotic PallInvestigation
- 2021-01-01A Tesla engineer at the Austin Gigafactory was clawed and pinned to a wall by a robot arm that had not fully shut down, suffering lacerations to his back and arms before falling into a chute.Report