zlacker

>>ummonk+(OP)
Servo based systems are both incredibly power and incredibly fast. So fast that if you've never seen a servo based arm move at top speed and come to that top speed at top acceleration you'd be forgiven to think that I'm exaggerating.

Depending on the application there are different layers of safety surrounding these systems, including perimeter guards, optical barriers, limit switches, resistance based detection and so on. But when a system is broken someone has to go in and fix it, and you tend to do that with the robot powered up, some of the safety systems disabled so you can actually work on it and if you're really unlucky a motor will end up shorted against a + or - rail while you're within reach. This is obviously dangerous, and it is more dangerous because broken equipment can't be trusted to behave in a predictable way.

They won't stop. Not until whatever is obstructing has moved or the motor has burned out (or someone has the presence of mind to hit the e-stop). I've seen a 3" thick mount that must have weighed well over a ton sheared clear of its bolts (which themselves were an inch thick) by a malfunctioning servo on a very large lathe under construction (think 8 foot chuck for crane cable idler wheels). Do not fuck with servo systems unless you are 100% sure they are safe to approach or you may well end up dead or gravely injured.

>>jacque+65
I had the pleasure of touring BMW’s Welt manufacturing plant while I was there and it was the first time I’d seen manufacturing robots in action. Even standing well outside of their reach zones and behind at least two layers of fencing, their movement was terrifying. Precise, powerful and completely without any awareness of their surroundings. They remind me of horses to be honest.

All of that is to say that it seems like working on a manufacturing floor with robots has the potential to be so so dangerous. Getting into a rhythm and doing repetitive work all day, it’s easy to imagine slipping and ending up as human soup.