Considering a hardware robotics startup right now. Can you expand on this : All the "user friendly" gimmicks are just obstacles in their way.
And what were some of your other conclusions having worked on an arm solution?
And what were some of your other conclusions having worked on an arm solution?
Nobody cares about what's inside the black box you are selling, as long as it solves your problem. Doesn't matter if that is vacuum cleaning with either a robot or a human, getting stuff from a to b with either a compliant arm with fancy computer vision or a human or custom, inflexible automation.
I'm currently in a robotics company, we make various mobile manipulators with some internal storage. Got acquired by, of course, a logistics company a couple years ago to be part of their overall solutions.
We found a lot of the time people "wanted" a robot arm, but then when they got it they sat it on a shelf - because the work required to turn a robot arm into a useful automated process is massive. Having a cheaper or easier to use robot arm doesn't stop you needing fixtures, jigs, conveyor belts etc.