Amazon Warehouse Robot Puts 24 People Into The Hospital
A merchandise-loading robot at an Amazon warehouse sent 24 workers to the hospital, but luckily everyone is expected to be ok.
By nowproducerdave on December 6, 2018
No, the robot didn’t go rogue and start attacking people, but it did cause 24 people to be sent to the hospital. The robot also didn’t directly hurt someone. We’ll explain; it’s one of those things that’s just hard to plan for.
So, Amazon uses robots in their warehouse. Automation has been around in warehouse and manufacturing industries for decades now, really. They robots are more like little motorized carts that kind of speed around and collect products from workers. They’re equipped with sensors and “eyes” that help prevent collisions. The little bots can recalculate on-the-fly if there’s an obstacle in the way, like your Garmin. Only this time, an object fell into the path of a robot, and there just wasn’t time for it to do anything but run into it.
The object was not a person, but instead a can of bear spray. About 9 ounces worth of bear repellant spray. It’s made from capsaicin, which is what you’d find in some of the hottest peppers. It’s a concentrated formula, so it was packed full of the stuff. Basically, it’s super pepper-spray, made to make bears run away crying. Well, the can burst open when the robot drove over it, and most of the people in the surrounding area had to go to the hospital because of exposure. See a little more on the story here.
