Smart software helps robots dodge collisions

November 4, 2003 | Source: New Scientist

The Inevitable Collision System (ICS) aims to make it impossible for robots to bump into objects, including people.

It works by continuously calculating an exclusion zone (for possible collisions) around the robot based on its motion and that of the objects around it.

To date there has only been one recorded roboticide. In 1981, Japanese factory worker Kenji Urada was killed by a robot in a manufacturing plant while repairing it.