A 40-year-old roboticist from a South Korean company died while checking the sensors of an industrial loading robot at an agricultural sorting center in South Gyeongsang Province. A robot loading boxes of finished products onto pallets apparently malfunctioned and identified a human as another box, Yonha news agency reported, citing police. A robotic arm pressed the man’s upper body against the conveyor belt, crushing his face and chest.

The test was originally planned to take place on November 6 but was later postponed due to problems with the robot’s sensor. The accident occurred at around 19.45 local time on Tuesday. The man was taken to hospital, but it was understood that his injuries were incompatible with life and he died. The police are preparing to launch an investigation into the security service managers of the sorting center for possible negligence in the performance of official duties.

In the statement made after the incident, the representative of Tongoson Export Agriculture Complex, which owns the facility, called for the establishment of the facility. “correct and safe” systems. Of course, such a statement seems a bit blasphemous because it should have been made much earlier.

A similar incident was recorded in South Korea in March this year: a fifty-year-old employee of a South Korean company producing auto parts was seriously injured by an industrial robot. Source