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Incident · Fatality

Robert Williams killed by industrial robot at Ford Michigan Casting Center — first known human fatality caused by a robot (1979)

On January 25, 1979, Robert Nicholas Williams, a 25-year-old factory worker at Ford Motor Company's Michigan Casting Center in Flat Rock, Michigan, was struck and killed by the arm of a robotic transfer vehicle built by Litton Industries. Williams was climbing into a storage rack to retrieve castings manually when a one-ton transfer vehicle crushed him from behind, killing him instantly.

His family sued Litton Industries and was awarded 10 million in 1983 (later raised to 15 million), the largest personal injury award in Michigan at the time. This is the first documented human killed by a robot.

Occurred 1979-01-25 · Ford Motor Company

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Incident records on DEPLOY are compiled from public sources (regulatory filings, news reports, and operator disclosures) and reflect what has been reported and tracked to date. They are not legal findings, determinations of fault, or safety ratings, and may be updated as new information is verified. See the sources below for the underlying references.
Track Robert Williams killed by industrial robot at Ford Michigan Casting Center — first known human fatality caused by a robot (1979)

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Sources (3)

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Williams_(robot_fatality)
  2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36850052/
  3. https://law.justia.com/cases/michigan/supreme-court/1989/81951-5.html

Common questions

What happened in Robert Williams killed by industrial robot at Ford Michigan Casting Center — first known human fatality caused by a robot (1979)?
On January 25, 1979, Robert Nicholas Williams, a 25-year-old factory worker at Ford Motor Company's Michigan Casting Center in Flat Rock, Michigan, was struck and killed by the arm of a robotic transfer vehicle built by Litton Industries. Williams was climbing into a storage rack to retrieve castings manually when a one-ton transfer vehicle crushed him from behind, killing him instantly. His family sued Litton Industries and was awarded 10 million in 1983 (later raised to 15 million), the largest personal injury award in Michigan at the time. This is the first documented human killed by a robot.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on January 25, 1979 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
Who was involved in Robert Williams killed by industrial robot at Ford Michigan Casting Center — first known human fatality caused by a robot (1979)?
The incident is recorded as involving Ford Motor Company on the DEPLOY registry. No specific robot model is linked to this incident in the registry.
Has anyone responded to Robert Williams killed by industrial robot at Ford Michigan Casting Center — first known human fatality caused by a robot (1979)?
No responses to this incident are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Operators, manufacturers, or affected parties can submit responses to the editorial team; absence is not a guarantee no response was issued.
What is the current status of Robert Williams killed by industrial robot at Ford Michigan Casting Center — first known human fatality caused by a robot (1979)?
This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Verified · 3 sources (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-09

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-08-09

Sources by quality tier

1
knowledge-base
Knowledge base
1
primary-academic-peer-reviewed
Peer-reviewed clinical / academic
1
unclassified
Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Robert Williams killed by industrial robot at Ford Michigan Casting Center — first known human fatality caused by a robot (1979).

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Canonical ID 5bda30d5-e877-445f-8b74-feb2068fbfce