‘Blood trail on floor’: Was Tesla factory engineer attacked by robot in 2021?

Tesla software engineer sustained injuries in robot attack at Texas factory, but it was not very severe, a report said.

A Tesla software engineer sustained injuries after being attacked by a malfunctioning robot at the electric vehicle manufacturer’s factory in the United States, reported The Information (news article behind paywall)

The U.S. electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla (REUTERS)

In a 2021 incident, the robot, designed for moving aluminium car parts, reportedly pinned the engineer and inflicted injuries with its metal claws, leaving a blood trail on the floor.

The incident occurred in 2021 at Tesla’s Austin, Texas, factory when, inadvertently, one of the robots was left operational while the engineer and his crew were working on the others. “As that robot ran through its normal motions, it pinned the engineer against a surface, pushing its claws into his body and drawing blood from his back and his arm, the two people said,” the report added.

Upon witnessing the attack, a fellow worker promptly activated the emergency stop. This allowed the engineer to take himself away from the robot's grip “falling a couple of feet down a chute designed to collect scrap aluminium and leaving a trail of blood behind him,” one of the witnesses said, the report added.

The news site said it obtained an injury report that was submitted to federal officials as well as to health authorities in Travis County.

The engineer got a "laceration, cut, or open wound" on his left hand, though it wasn't severe to necessitate time off from work.

Tesla, however, declined to provide any comments on the matter, New York Post’s report said.

Tesla Inc. is the worldwide leader in fully electric vehicle sales. Musk’s EV maker likely delivered 18.2 lakh vehicles globally in 2023, up 37 per cent from 2022, according to 14 analysts polled by LSEG.