“A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. “ – First Law of Robotics, Isaac Asimov
So what is going on here? 
According to an Article in New Scientist, “in Slovenia a powerful robot has been hitting people over and over again in a bid to induce anything from mild to unbearable pain – in apparent defiance of the late sci-fi sage’s famed first law of robotics, which states that “a robot may not injure a human being“.
It’s all for a good cause, though, and one in keeping with Asimov’s First Law: “Even robots designed to Asimov’s laws can collide with people. We are trying to make sure that when they do, the collision is not too powerful,” Povše says. “We are taking the first steps to defining the limits of the speed and acceleration of robots, and the ideal size and shape of the tools they use, so they can safely interact with humans.”
“Determining the limits of pain during robot-human impacts this way will allow the design of robot motions that cannot exceed these limits,” says Sami Haddadin of DLR, the German Aerospace Centre in Wessling, who also works on human-robot safety. Such work is crucial, he says, if robots are ever to work closely with people.”
We’re OK with the idea of testing, but we’re not sure that volunteers’ perception of “pain” after say the first 12 or 13 hits is an objectively verifiable response variable.
But if its my arm, I’m not sure I’d like “stitches” or “bruise area” to be the measureable either…
Full story.
