A robot at a Tesla factory allegedly attacked an employee and left him bleeding. This could become a new reality in an increasingly automated workplace.
According to a News from Nation report, the incident occurred at the Giga Texas Tesla factory near Austin, Texas in 2021. The accident occurred in a part of the factory where freshly pressed aluminum auto parts came off the line.
New parts are initially made from thin sheets of aluminum which are then cast into molds to achieve the desired shape. When the parts come out of these molds, the remaining strips of aluminum foil are still stretched over the edges. These extra parts, called flashers, need to be removed and this is where the robots come in. The trio of robots is tasked with removing new parts from aluminum cages with their gripping metal claws.
Engineers at the site were working to update the software controlling the robots when the attack occurred. Two robots were shut down but the third remained active and continued normal operations. Eyewitnesses reported that the robot sank its claws into the back and arm of an engineer, leaving a “trail of blood”.
The incident occurred when the robot malfunctioned while grabbing and moving car parts. It attacked the engineer and threw him on the ground. After this, his hands and back were held tight. He started bleeding. Seeing this, the employee present there pressed the emergency stop button. Only then could the engineer free himself from the robot’s grip.
Tesla is required to report all injuries to the state and Travis County to continue receiving tax exemptions, and the 2021 robot attack incident report was reviewed by the Daily Mail. According to the report, the incident left an open wound on the engineer’s hand, but the injuries did not require rest.
Injuries at the Texas plant are above average by industry standards. According to the New York Post, about 1 in 21 workers at the Giga Texas plant were injured in 2022, while 1 in 30 workers in the auto industry were injured. The dangers inherent in increasing human-robot interactions are of increasing concern to roboticists as they attempt to develop better systems to prevent these types of accidents.
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In the meantime, if we want to keep ourselves (and the employees we’re responsible for) safe it’s up to us to look into the gaps that robots can’t see. Otherwise, in a life-like Five Nights at Freddy’s, we will be the architects of our robotic nightmare.
Tesla did not comment on this report
However, the storm has proved this rumor to be true but Tesla has not yet commented on the report. According to a report submitted to the US Health and Safety Administration, 1 in every 21 workers at Tesla’s Texas factory was injured for some reason last year.
