robot safety News

OSHA Calls for Review of Machine Safety Rule in Age of Robotics

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is considering an update to the rules governing the use of machines in the workplaces in light of the increasing use of robotic technology. The agency said it is …

Electrical Fault in Battery Caused Huge Blaze at Ocado’s UK Distribution Center

British online grocer Ocado said a huge blaze which destroyed its major distribution center in Andover, southern England, was caused by an electrical fault in a battery that caused a robot to catch fire. Shares in Ocado fell as much …

Companies Still Learning About Fire Risks Around Robots

The Andover fire brigade was alerted at 2.34 a.m. About 2 miles across town, a fire had broken out in the early hours of Feb. 5 at a state-of-the-art Ocado Group Plc warehouse. Within minutes, firefighters were tackling a blaze …

Robots, Drones Changing How Oil Firms Handle Dangerous Offshore Work

At BP’s massive Thunder Horse oil platform in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, a dog-sized robot called Maggie uses magnetic tracks to creep along pipes connecting the giant oil facility to the sea floor. Before MaggHD, dubbed “Maggie” by BP, …

How One German Company Is Making Workplace Robots Safer for Humans

Two years ago, a robot crushed a 22-year-old man to death at a Volkswagen AG factory in Germany after the maintenance worker became trapped in an area usually off-bound to humans. While this type of tragedy is still relatively rare, …

Popular Robots Appear Dangerously Easy to Hack, Researchers Say

Some of the most popular industrial and consumer robots are dangerously easy to hack and could be turned into bugging devices or weapons, IOActive Inc. said. The Seattle-based cybersecurity firm found major security flaws in industrial models sold by Universal …

Cobots: Making It Safe for Humans, Robots to Work Side-by-Side

In June this year a robot crushed a man to death in a Volkswagen factory in Germany. The 22-year-old maintenance worker became trapped between a large robotic arm and a metal plate, in an area usually off-bounds to humans. The …