In A First, Robot Commits Suicide

Posted November 15, 2013 06:00 by dave-dr-gonzo

Experts have not yet determined if it was depressed, had a psychotic break, or suffered a firmware or software malfunction. Nevertheless, this appears to be the first ever robot suicide:

A cleaning gadget could have become the first device to kill itself after it “climbed” onto a kitchen hotplate and burned to death. The iRobot Roomba 760 reportedly rebelled against its owners in Kirchdorf, Austria, after being given one chore too many.

Local newspapers state that the switched-off cleaner had been left on the sideboard. But it somehow switched itself back on, crawled along the work surface and pushed a cooking pot out of the way. By sitting on the hot plate, the gadget caught fire and quickly converted into a pile of ash.

“The entire building was evacuated, and there was severe smoke damage particularly in the flat where the robot had been in use,” firefighter Helmut Kniewasser told the Mirror. Although admitting he “didn’t know” whether it had been a robot suicide, he did say it was “a mystery” how it got activated and found its way onto the hotplate.

Homeowner Gernot Hackl, 44, said he was shocked to return to find the property uninhabitable due to smoke damage. … “I would never buy one again. You buy them to keep the place clean, not almost burn it down and ruin everything.”