A Simulated real-world upper-body Exoskeleton Accident and Investigation

Abstract

This paper describes the enactment of a simulated (mock) accident involving an upper-body exoskeleton and its investigation. The accident scenario is enacted by role-playing volunteers, one of whom is wearing the exoskeleton. Following the mock accident, investigators - also volunteers - interview both the subject of the accident and relevant witnesses. The investigators then consider the witness testimony alongside robot data logged by the ethical black box, in order to address the three key questions: what happened?, why did it happen?, and how can we make changes to prevent the accident happening again? This simulated accident scenario is one of a series we have run as part of the RoboTIPS project, with the overall aim of developing and testing both processes and technologies to support social robot accident investigation.

Figures (3)

• Figure 1: The Tribonix Upper Body Exoskeleton (photo: Tribonix Ltd)
• Figure 2: Left: Paul lifting boxes. Right: Paul lying on the floor attended by the paramedic (right) and senior manager
• Figure 3: The accident investigators interviewing the representative of the robot manufacturer (right), observed by a project team member (left).