Robot crushes factory worker to death in Thailand

Startling video footage capturing the tragic moment a robotic arm fatally crushed a worker at a factory in Thailand has emerged today. 

The harrowing incident unfolded at the Vandapac factory located in Thailand's Chonburi province on March 27. 

The unsuspecting worker appeared to be laying out sheets of material when the arm forcefully swung down and pinned him against a bench.

Unsettling CCTV footage shows how the victim was incapacitated beneath the hulking metal device as a fellow employee continued working across the room, seemingly unaware of the catastrophe unfolding just behind him.

Emergency responders swiftly intervened after the alarm was eventually raised, releasing the man before administering critical aid and rushing him to Chonburi Hospital.

But he was pronounced dead on arrival having sustained major trauma.  +5 View gallery
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The unsuspecting worker appeared to be laying out sheets of material when the arm forcefully swung down and pinned him against a bench +5 View gallery
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Unsettling CCTV footage shows how the victim was incapacitated beneath the hulking metal device as a fellow employee continued working across the room, seemingly unaware of the catastrophe unfolding just behind him

Factory authorities have asserted that the robot arm was operating within normal parameters and attributed the accident to the worker's misjudgment.

They suggested he was aware of the robot arm's capabilities and mistakenly manoeuvered beneath it, refusing to take responsibility for the incident. 

Expressing minimal details, a manager stated to local media: 'We are not providing any more information. 

'The employees accept responsibility for any accidents that happen while they are working.'

Vandapac, a longstanding manufacturer specialising in plastic products for various industries, has operations spanning decades and employs over 1,800 individuals across its facilities in Samut Prakan province and the Amata City Chonburi Industrial Estate.

The shocking incident comes just months after another robot killed a worker in South Korea because it failed to differentiate him from a box of vegetables.

That victim, a robotics company worker in his 40s, was checking the machine's sensor at a distribution centre for agricultural produce in South Gyeongsang during a routine inspection in November.

But the machine, which was lifting boxes of peppers onto a pallet, grabbed the man with its arm and pushed him against the conveyor belt, crushing his face and chest.

The robot malfunctioned and identified the man as a box, police sources said.

The victim was transferred to the hospital but died later, according to the South Korean Yonhap news agency.

Police subsequently launched an investigation into the site's safety managers for possible negligence in duties. 

An official from the Donggoseong Export Agricultural Complex, which owns the plant, called for a 'precise and safe' system to be established in a statement after the incident. 

The victim had reportedly filled in to conduct tests originally planned for November 6, but they were pushed back two days due to reported problems with the robot's sensor.  +5 View gallery
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Illustrative image shows a robot arm in use at a factory in Japan Moment chess-playing robot breaks child's finger during tournament Loaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00PreviousPlaySkipLIVEMute00:00Current Time 0:00/Duration Time 0:30FullscreenNeed TextVideo Quality576p540p360p270pForeground---WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan---OpaqueSemi-OpaqueBackground---WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan---OpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentWindow---WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan---OpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentFont Size50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%Text Edge StyleNoneRaisedDepressedUniformDropshadowFont FamilyDefaultMonospace SerifProportional SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional Sans-SerifCasualScriptSmall CapsDefaultsDone +5 View gallery
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A chess-playing robot (pictured) broke a child's finger during an international tournament in Moscow last July, with the incident being captured in CCTV footage 

Last July, footage emerged of a chess-playing android breaking a child's finger during a match in Russia.

The robot grabbed the seven-year-old boy's finger at the Moscow Open because it was confused by his quick movements, Russian media outlets reported.

Sergey Lazarev, vice-president of the Russian Chess Federation, said the child had violated 'certain safety rules' by making a move too soon. 

Christopher Atkeson, a robotics expert at Carnegie Mellon University, told MailOnline: 'Robots have limited sensing and thus limited awareness of what is going on around them.

'I suspect the chess robot did not have ears, and that its vision system was blind to anything other than chess boards and pieces.'