Deployments
Hyundai and Xiaomi run whole factories on robots, in Georgia and Beijing
Hyundai's Metaplant in Ellabell, Georgia runs about 850 robots across welding, assembly and logistics. Xiaomi's Changping plant in Beijing builds phones on a lights-out line. Universal Robots has sold more than 100,000 cobots, and China's Dobot is among the fastest-growing cobot makers.
| Deployment | Developer / operator | Where | Scale | Autonomy | Status | Controls declared |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyundai Metaplant America | Hyundai, Boston Dynamics and others / Hyundai Motor Group | Ellabell, Georgia | About 850 robots (2025) | Programmed and AI-guided | Operating | Not disclosed |
| Xiaomi Changping smart factory | Xiaomi | Changping, Beijing | Lights-out phone line (2024) | Autonomous production line | Operating | Not disclosed |
Recent events
- A packing robot at a Goseong, South Korea vegetable plant crushed a worker it mistook for a box of peppers on November 7, 2023.
- A NIOSH study of 41 robot-related deaths found 78% involved a worker struck by the robot.
- A Tesla Fremont worker sued Tesla and FANUC for $51 million in 2025 over injuries from a robot arm.
- The IFR forecasts about 575,000 new installations in 2025.
Attack surface
Three of ten attack-surface dimensions rate very significant or critical
No dimension rates critical. Ratings use five levels, from limited to critical, and cover the paths an attacker or a failure can take into the agent.
| Dimension | Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Physical access | Very significant | Cobots work within reach of people by design |
| Identity and authentication | Moderate | Teach pendant and controller logins are often shared |
| Command and control channels | Significant | Controllers take commands from PLCs and plant networks |
| Perception and sensors | Very significant | Safety scanners and force sensing decide when to slow or stop |
| Connectivity surface | Significant | Plant OT networks and remote vendor access |
| OTA and update pipeline | Moderate | Controller firmware updates are infrequent and manual |
| Data capture and retention | Moderate | Process data, with cameras on vision-guided cells |
| Integrations and permissions | Significant | MES, PLC and vision integrations set what the arm does |
| Behavioral and policy boundary | Very significant | Speed, force and zone limits are the core safety boundary |
| Multi-agent coordination | Moderate | Cells coordinate with conveyors and mobile robots |
Incidents
One registry incident involves industrial robots and cobots
Each row links to its full record, with the control that failed, who found it and whether a reporting rule applied.
| Incident | Date | Agent | Found by | Control that failed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Packing Robot Kills a Worker in Goseong | Nov 2023 | Industrial palletizing robot | Deployer | Robot could move while a technician was within reach |
Rules
Robot safety standards are voluntary in the US and harmonized in the EU
| Rule | Jurisdiction | What it requires | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANSI/A3 R15.06-2025 | US | Industrial robot and system safety | Published 2025 |
| OSHA general duty clause | US | Employer duty to keep workplaces free of recognized hazards; no robot-specific standard | In force |
| ISO 10218-1 and -2 (2025) | International | Robot and robot-system safety, including collaborative operation | Published 2025 |
| EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 | EU | Essential safety requirements for machinery, including AI-driven behavior | Applies from Jan 20, 2027 |
| GB 11291 industrial robot safety | China | National robot safety standard aligned with ISO 10218 | In force |
Status colors: green in force, blue voluntary standard or framework, amber adopted and phasing in, gray draft or pending, red withdrawn.
Record
Page Record
- Agent class
- Physical
- Datasets
- ai_deployments.csv (2 rows for this page); ai_attack_surface.csv (10 rows); ai_incidents.csv (1 linked)
- Key sources
- IFR World Robotics
NIOSH study of robot-related fatalities - Last verified
- October 2026