Industrial Robot Crushes Worker in South Korea

2023-11-10 13:53:20来源：网络

Industrial Robot Crushes Worker in South Korea

韩国工业机器人碾压工人

【原文听力】

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

　　By Bryan Lynn

　　09 November 2023

　　South Korean police said Thursday an industrial robot had crushed a worker to death at a vegetable processing center.

　　The male worker suffered severe head and chest injuries after the robot's arms pushed his body against a conveyor belt used to move box containers. The man was treated at a hospital in the southern county of Goseong, but died of his injuries.

　　Police said early evidence suggested human error was more likely to blame than problems with the robot itself. But investigators were looking into whether the machine was defective or incorrectly designed. The robot was being used to lift boxes filled with vegetables.

　　Police said the victim of the accident was an employee of a company that deploys industrial robots to businesses. He was sent to the processing center to examine whether the machine was working correctly.

　　A police official who spoke to The Associated Press (AP) said investigators were looking into the possibility that the robot had misidentified the worker as a box. The machine's sensors are designed to identify boxes. Security video suggested the man had moved near the robot with a box in his hands and this could have caused the machine's reaction, the official said.

　　The machine that caused the death was one of two used at the center to lift and transport boxes loaded with vegetables to be exported to other Asian nations. Such robots are common in South Korean agricultural communities.

　　A police investigator told the AP the machine was not an "artificial intelligence-powered robot," but a device designed to just lift and place boxes. He said police were working with related agencies to find out whether the machine had safety issues.

　　The International Federation of Robotics, based in Germany, estimated South Korea had 1,000 industrial robots per 10,000 employees in 2021. This represents the highest density of industrial robots in the world. Many of these robots are used in manufacturing factories such as electronics and auto-making.

　　South Korea has had other industrial robot accidents in recent years. In March, a manufacturing robot crushed and seriously injured a worker who was examining it at an auto parts factory in Gunsan. And in 2022, a robot working near a conveyor belt crushed a worker to death at a milk factory south of the capital Seoul.

　　I'm Bryan Lynn.

　　The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

　　布莱恩·林恩

　　2023年11月9日

　　韩国警方周四表示，一个工业机器人在一个蔬菜加工中心压死了一名工人。

　　这名男性工人在机器人的手臂将他的身体推向一个传送带用于移动箱式容器。这名男子在南部城市谷城的一家医院接受治疗，但因伤势过重死亡。

　　警方表示，早期证据表明，比起机器人本身的问题，更有可能是人为错误造成的。但是调查人员正在调查这台机器是否有缺陷的或者设计不正确。机器人被用来举起装满蔬菜的箱子。

　　警方表示，事故的受害者是一家向企业部署工业机器人的公司的员工。他被派到加工中心去检查机器是否正常工作。

　　一名警官接受了采访美联社(美联社)称，调查人员正在调查机器人将工人误认为盒子的可能性。机器的传感器被设计用来识别箱子。该官员说，安全视频显示，该男子手里拿着一个盒子，靠近了机器人，这可能导致了机器的反应。

　　导致死亡的机器是该中心用于提升和运输装有蔬菜的箱子的两台机器之一，这些蔬菜将出口到其他亚洲国家。这种机器人在韩国农业社区很常见。

　　一名警方调查人员告诉美联社，该机器不是“人工智能驱动的机器人”，而是一种旨在提升和放置箱子的设备。他说，警方正在与相关机构合作，以查明这台机器是否存在安全问题。