hes@ecsvax.UUCP (Henry Schaffer) (04/25/85)
This accidental death is a poor example of hazards of robots. There was nothing I saw which related the hazard more to robots than to any other piece of industrial machinery which has a fence around it to keep people out of range of the moving parts. I think that it is press sensationalism which emphasizes the ROBOT KILLS MAN aspect of this industrial accident. --henry schaffer
smith@umn-cs.UUCP (05/01/85)
My apologies to anyone who thought the submission was an attempt at press sensationalism. I submitted the item for two reasons. First, because there hadn't been (to my knowledge) any news announcement of the event. The death occurred last summer, but I didn't see any mention of it until my wife stumbled over the report in an obscure medical newsletter. The other reason I submitted it is because robot arms such as the one in the accident are the subject of lots of research in computer control, by myself and presumably by others who read this list. Implicit in the report is a question 'Could we make the robot smart enough not to do that?' Rick.