At Modern Safety, we recently blogged about how robotics could change the future of mine safety. This week, we came across another case of a robotic solution to safety risks. This is the story of Bin Bot – a robot designed to lower fatalities and incidents relating to grain bins. As always, we’re thinking about how the Bin Bot could be applied in many situations involving safety inspections and compliance management.
Let’s start with Jerome Mack. When Jerome lost a close friend in a grain bin accident in 1998, he started Mack Robotics, the company behind the Bin Bot. This is the company’s stated motivation:
Our Motivation: Grain Bin Safety
Entrapment and death are real consequences when dealing with grain bins. Too many of us, including the owner of our company, have been affected by these unfortunate tragedies. We want grain bin operations to continue, even increase; but with our employees performing tasks from outside the bin.
Considering that OSHA reported 51 workers were engulfed in grain bins in 2010, and that the year set a new record of 26 deaths relating to grain bins, this mission behind the Bin Bot is more relevant than ever.
The Bin Bot is operated by remote control, from outside of a grain bin. It’s about 6′ x 2′ in size and weighs 800 lbs. This robot can push, pull and lift. With its dust proof metal body, it can knock down a wall of grain. Camera and lighting attachments are optional. And the battery has a 12-hour life before charging is needed.
We think the Bin Bot is another great example of how robotics can improve safety management in the future, without eliminating jobs or the need for a human element in compliance.
Mack Robotics has produced a number of videos about the Bin Bot. Here are a few clips of the Bin Bot in action. Keep in mind, these videos capture a robot in a grain bin, so you might want to lower your volume before clicking play…
