How Stupid and Dangerous Is This?

The real question is, what will the Safety Officer say about this ?

Which one is stupider, the moron in the chair or the idiot who programed the robot? The idiot in the chair could be in-line for a "Darwin Award", while the idiot who did the programing could be in-line for a man slaughter charge. At one point, the guy's head is only inches from the ground, clowns...

The 'idiot in the chair' is definately a natural born type (no brain no pain) still it is entertaining for the onlooker to see what is going on regardless.

It makes me wonder - what would happen if the robot gets out of control and goes besirk? What'd be left of the 'idiot in the chair'?

It would be ok to do something along these lines to demonstrate the reliability, precision and sfety of the robot as a marketing tool.
BUT... it should be done with suitable safety precautions (eg a bit more head clearance, safety barrier etc).
Done sensibly it should be safer than a fairground ride.
Del

Hello Del,

It is always good to get different view points. When I mulled over what you said it is probably safer than a carnival ride. The 'what ifs' are what spurred me to post this. Even with superb, slow motion programming it would need to account for the stretch in the seat belts to avoid a head bang.

Others seemed to react like I did but there is merit to having many view points.

Not my "cup of Tea".

Best Regards

This should be standard procedure anywhere - the guy tied to the arm is the programmer.

Oh, yes. The legend of the Docklands Light Railway.

The Inspecting Officer dangled his legs over the buffer stop at Stratford Station and asked the train operator to drive it towards the stops in Automatic Train Protection Manual, with the words, "If the vehicle touches my legs then you don't get your operational approval."

Public services began a few days later.

Right - and the marketing guru who conceived this takes a ride right after the programmer!

Might come in real handy if a finger-down-the-throat just isn't good enough!

Well it's a hell of a lot safer than this incident

http://cr4.globalspec.com/blogentry/3631/Rampaging-robot-cannon-leaves-nine-dead-in-its-wake

In the end computer controlled equipment doesn't injure people, improper programming and user error injure people. I am assuming that the robot arm program was thoroughly tested at a much slower speed (and clearances measured) before anyone got in it, still even if it is only a carefully staged stunt it is still dangerous (such as the straps or seat breaking due to the high loads and G forces placed on it).

Fancy someone posting a video on Youtube of someone acting recklessly for the amusement of others.

The US Army eventually cancelled their Sgt York self-propelled air defence gun, which was state of the art at the time, allegedly because its doppler radar couldn't tell the difference between the blades of a helicopter and the blades of a ventilation fan in a mobile toilet . Now there's this incident in South Africa . All these go to show that technology, no matter how sophisticated, can, does, and will fail . So why is it that there is an idiot playing on an industrial robot as though it was a fairground ride ?! Oh yeah, I just answered my own question . Because he's an idiot !!!!

As for posting such an irresponsible video on YouTube, YouTube itself is a great idea . Unfortunately, there's no way to stop people from doing stupid things with it . In my country, a couple of teenaged morons thought it would be funny to order pork and alcohol, both proscribed by Islam, in a Muslim-owned and operated restaurant that caters to Muslims . They posted the video of them harassing the increasingly annoyed waiter on YouTube, thinking it would be good for a laugh, without considering that an insensitive act of stupidity like this can very quickly explode into rioting . Not surprisingly, YouTube yanked it off after just a couple of days .

The seat belt systems specified for racing use are designed to secure the driver during the extreme stresses encountered during a massive incident with appropriate safety factors built into the design. Even so, during testing with high speed cameras, a certain amount of stretching of the belts is observed. When in use on the track, if a car is involved in an incident, before that car is allowed to race again, the seat belt system is throughly inspected, and in fact suggested to be replaced regardless of appearance. Additionally, seat belt systems are required to be replaced after a term of usage due to not easily inspected damage from infrared and ozone. This being the case, the use of seat belts subjected to the stresses observed in the clip is totally unacceptable. Enclose the "rider" in a cage and secure them with a padded bent metal tubing yoke and all I can say is knock yourself out.

"Do not try this at home - we are professionals."











Yeeeeeeaaah, RIIIIGHT!

Job opportunities are far and few now, so these kind of idiots, show us that there will be a job opening soon

I think that was test for Virtual Reality simulator, and perhaps it would be useful as part of helicopter pilot training?

However, they should have left more space between head and floor, if for nothing else then because of natural variation in height of persons.

Still, I would say it is not much more dangerous than bungee jumping or parachuting, mountain climbing, bull riding and so on.

I am not adrenaline addict, so I would not try it.....

Try searching "robocoaster" on you tube.

Also this website: http://www.robocoaster.com/content/

Accidents can and do happen with any amusement ride. But with some programming adjustments it should be fairly safe. I would not like being the one strapped into it when (not if) it goes nuts. But then again, I would not want to be the one strapped into a roller coaster when it jumps the track either. I guess the good thing about a roller coaster is it will likely only bash you around once. The robot could so it several times in quick succession before the E-stop is pushed. How about adding pressure mats to the floor around it. This way it can shut down automatically after slamming you into the floor.

With more conservative programming it could be very safe. As seen however is just wrong. Even with a good 5 point harness I wouldn't trust thrusting anyones head that close to the ground without expecting fatal results eventually.

ok, so i rode one,.. about 12 years ago,.. in vegas, Ive been in roll over car accidents that were less violet, ..but was fun, however I can imagine the machine just pounding him into the ground.

Cool! We'll add it to the backyard amusement theme. Now we can stop using the trebuchet and program the robot to toss us into the pool