Robotics Expert Witness

Overview

About Robotics Expert Witnesses

A robotics expert decides why an automated system did what it did and whether the people who designed, integrated and ran it took the steps a competent team would have taken. The usual events are a worker struck or pinned inside a robot cell, an automation line that never met its promised rate, and a robotic product that failed in use. Most of these cases involve several parties: the robot maker, the integrator who built the cell, the employer and sometimes the software supplier. This page covers robots and automated systems. Machine guarding on conventional machines has its own page, general software quality belongs to a software engineer, and surgical judgment in a robot-assisted operation belongs to a surgeon.

The expert reads the risk assessment, cell layout and safety circuit drawings, controller programs and logs, teach pendant records, commissioning reports, maintenance records and the incident video if there is one. Controller data can be overwritten, so preservation matters from the first day.

There Is No Robot Rule

Attorneys often expect a federal robotics standard, and there isn't one. OSHA says there are currently no specific OSHA standards for the robotics industry, and points instead to general rules, including lockout under 1910.147 and machine requirements under 1910.212 ¹. That makes the consensus standards the working benchmark. OSHA's Technical Manual identifies ANSI/RIA R15.06-2012 and says that for system integrators the relevant part is Part 2, with RIA Technical Report R15.606-2016 for collaborative applications ². These are voluntary documents, though a court may hear them as evidence of accepted practice. The expert should name the edition in force when the cell was built, since revisions change the analysis.

When People Get Hurt

Robot injuries seldom happen in normal production. OSHA's manual reports that studies in Sweden and Japan indicated many robot accidents occur during assembly, installation and testing, when workers are first exposed to the application ². Maintenance, programming and jam clearing are the other common moments, because those tasks bring a person inside the safeguarded space.

Three questions recur:

• Was the person meant to be there? The expert maps fences, gates, light curtains and interlocks against the task the worker was doing, and asks whether a bypass had become routine
• Was the energy controlled? During servicing, the employer must establish a program of energy control procedures, training and periodic inspections ³. The harder fight is whether a task counted as servicing or as normal production
• Was the teach pendant used correctly? Most robot systems are set up by programming with a teach pendant in manual mode ². Because the enabling device is typically a 3-position device, the worker must hold it in the center position or motion stops ². OSHA's case examples include a worker programming without a pendant that had an enabling device ²

Crushing and trapping is the classic mechanism. OSHA describes a limb or body part caught between a robot, end-effector or workpiece and other equipment ². So the layout's clearances are measured, not assumed.

Collaborative robots do not end the analysis. A robot labeled collaborative is one element. The application, including the tool and the workpiece, decides whether contact is safe, and a sharp end-effector can make a low-force arm dangerous. The risk assessment should show that someone asked this question.

Integration and Performance Disputes

Commercial cases ask why a system never ran at the promised rate. The expert compares the functional specification with the factory and site acceptance tests, then reads the change orders and downtime logs. Common causes include a part variation that the design did not cover, unrealistic cycle times, and a poorly defined split of duties between integrator and buyer. As with any technical opinion, the expert has to show the method and stay within what a reliable application of it supports ⁴.

Robots Outside the Factory

Medical and consumer robots bring their own rules. FDA says a robotically-assisted surgical device is not actually a robot, because it cannot perform surgery without direct human control ⁵. Claims there divide between the device, the surgeon's training and the hospital's credentialing, so a robotics engineer usually pairs with a surgeon. Mobile robots in warehouses and on sidewalks raise navigation, sensing and software questions, and an expert should ask for the logs before forming a view.

Who Is Qualified

No license is specific to robotics, though some engineers hold a PE license. Look for an engineer who has designed or integrated cells of the same type, with direct safety circuit and risk assessment experience, and who can read the controller's program and logs. A human factors expert addresses why a worker acted as they did, and a safety engineer can address the employer's program.

Qualifications

Qualifications to Look For

• ✓Direct design or integration of robot cells of the same type
• ✓Hands-on safety circuit, risk assessment and commissioning experience
• ✓Ability to read controller programs, alarm histories and logs
• ✓Working knowledge of ANSI/RIA R15.06 and related consensus standards
• ✓PE license where held; many practitioners work without one
• ✓Experience with the same robot brand or controller family
• ✓Prior deposition or trial testimony explaining automation to a lay audience

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions