The near-fatal incident took place at a factory north of Stockholm in June 2007. A worker was about to fix a broken rock-lifting robot. He’d shut the power off, but the machine suddenly woke up and grabbed the man by the head… "But the robot suddenly came to life and grabbed a tight hold of the victim’s head. The man succeeded in defending himself but not before suffering serious injuries."

This week, Johansson decided not to prosecute either the company that owned the factory or its robot. Instead, the company will have to pay a $3,000 fine.

Time to start buying that robot insurance people.

… had gone to see a team of Japanese engineers from the company proudly showing off their new mobility technology — a pair of wearable robotic “Walking Assist Devices.” Strapping the powered gadgets to our legs felt silly, but after taking them off, the sensation of being cast back among unaugmented humans, forced to walk completely under our own primitive power, was a distinct comedown.