During Moscow Open on July 10th, a chess-playing robot grabbed and broke a seven-year-old boy's finger. The entire incident occurred for just a few seconds before a few people rushed over and freed his finger from the robot's grasp.
The robot reached over the chess board at that moment because the boy tried to move too quickly after it captured a piece. "The robot did not like such a hurry — he grabbed the boy's index finger and squeezed it hard," said Sergey Smagin, vice president of the Russian Chess Federation, in a translated statement. "The people around rushed to help and pulled out the finger of the young player, but the fracture could not be avoided."
The machine, which plays multiple matches simultaneously, had already played three matches before meeting the boy. Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin believes the event occurred because of a software issue. He also went on to say this is the first time that such an accident has happened.
However, the robot model and how it was programmed remains unclear. It simply appears that the robot was specifically designed to move chess pieces around a board and didn't realize it grabbed the boy's finger.
The boy, whose finger was put in a cast, didn't experience any trauma related to the incident. He proceeded to participate in the match the following day, finishing the tournament.
There are around 11.3 accidents for every 100 employees related to robotics a year. There needs to be more safety measures. All those working in the robotics field, do you agree?
Anything with moving parts can, and will, fail. What stories do you have where technology went haywire? Share below.
Have a story tip? Message me at: http://twitter.com/Cabe_Atwell
