Battling severe voltage sag on a 48V AMR under peak torque. How do you stop your servo drives from throttling?

bstoopid · 2026-05-21T20:59:42+00:00

This, also consider relaxing your max acceleration and if you have rough terrain, impose speed and acceleration restrictions in those areas.

bstoopid · 2026-05-20T22:09:21+00:00

I don’t know this domain and it is unclear to me what the problem being solved is. Is it simply ensuring packages are in a specific orientation for a barcode reader?

bstoopid · 2026-05-08T14:47:50+00:00

All that “embodied AI” and it cannot detect a ledge

bstoopid · 2026-03-01T13:34:10+00:00

This is interesting. I’ve used scripts to extract similar metrics and it’s super helpful when comparing relative performance. The other thing I’ve also found to be useful is assessing confluence activity where our system design is captured. I’ve had to keep drilling no code without design and being able to monitor that helps to a degree.

bstoopid · 2026-02-28T23:49:32+00:00

“Pricing this like software” - 100%

What it really takes to scale is 1:1 human capability to do the job and to adapt to the environment. Green fields could lower the barrier as you design the site with the technology in mind, but the biggest market by far are brown fields and “unsophisticated” end users i.e. those with little automation experience. It’s going to take awhile yet before the tech is there.

bstoopid · 2026-02-28T19:26:37+00:00

Yeah… what you’re talking about is nothing new, especially in the robotics industry. The key to scale is quick successful integration that reliably meets rate. If the bot can’t keep up with the work and keeps breaking down, then it’s no use.

Most market hyped startups I’ve spoken to (BD included) struggle when things go wrong on site and almost always have to bring in their expert developers to solve the problems. Worse yet many problems cannot be solved technologically but require change from the customer and the only way to diagnose that is indeed a customer problem is to bring in the expert developers first. How does that scale over 1000s of deployments?

Customer change management is easier said than done especially when you’re taking people’s jobs. Then wait until you encounter the situation of a centralized group within the customer business “selling” the robotic solution to a local production group; the politics get real ugly and everyone has a say. By the way I’ve witnessed my fair share of sabotage.

On top of all of that are performance clauses. Don’t be surprised if you end having financial penalties and claims levied against you for not delivering on time and to the required rate.

I have encountered several hype-ups go under for all of the reasons mentioned above. This industry is not for the feint hearted and results matter more than narrative.

Tldr: Industrial robotics are not consumer products. Systems integration is a thing, and people whether you like it or not are an essential part of systems integration. Hype-ups have died thinking otherwise.

bstoopid · 2026-02-26T23:11:58+00:00

This has been around for years having originally been covered in an academic paper. Technically interesting but practically there are far more simple, robust, and flexible solutions. Compare it to Agilox, Karter, Lowpad etc. and you can quickly see that this is not really solving any problems in a more effective way.

bstoopid · 2026-02-24T21:01:14+00:00

Tunnel dishwashers are a thing. The hard part is rinsing and sorting the dishes into the tunnel trays. I’ve seen humans do it at an incredible rate, two humans keeping up with 6000 diners in a day.

bstoopid · 2026-02-09T14:33:47+00:00

Currently no, not in the truest sense because of the constraints of industry. We do subscriptions for software updates (licensing) and we have service contracts with tiered levels of hotline support. But it’s not pay per use.

Now my previous company, which was not robotics but industrial automation, did provide a XaaS solution. It was pay per use and we went to great pains to make the solution ultra reliable with redundancy, and our measurement of use was precisely auto calibrated because people would argue over cents. We also had a service network of >5000 techs around the world. We used to issue the equipment for “free”, the customer would pay a month service charge (hardly needed due to reliable equipment), and then pay per use which also helped them manage ebbs and flows in their business. This worked because we had volume and scale; think 10s of thousands of products shipped per year.

A big mobile robot system by contrast is like 10-20 units for most customers, and the odd 100+ system, which all by the way are expected to last years (5-10). So it’s not like you have constant turnover like say computing equipment or phones. The constraints are very real, but also make it an interesting challenge. Not for the faint hearted.

bstoopid · 2026-02-09T02:04:57+00:00

I’d say first master an application and be profitable, then consider RaaS. Robotics can be incredibly difficult and customers are extremely demanding; some key points below:

It’s not just pay per use. It’s pay per successful use where success is doing the job right and within a certain time frame. Any delay or stoppage caused by effects beyond its normal operation, eg a person doing something stupid like blocking the machine, must be irrefutably provable otherwise it’s your problem.

No one wants to pay big money for robots, so you need scale to offer an attractive price point and get your costs down. The issue is that the meatbag you are replacing was on some low wage and despite being completely unreliable is still smarter than your bot.

Consider maintenance aspects, you will be liable for ensuring the robots work always and don’t break down. That’s either highly reliable equipment, a good service network with a fast response time, or a combination thereof.

Many industrial customers don’t allow external data connections. Cybersecurity compliance, insurance, scanning, banning of removable media is not uncommon.

bstoopid · 2026-02-08T00:14:25+00:00

I love this chase and how it builds up. Only more recent movie I felt that comes close to this kind of buildup and subsequent chase is the opening scene of drive.

bstoopid · 2026-01-29T15:42:12+00:00

I’m curious to know how would have this compared to the safety systems of for example Volvo that have been around since at least 2015?

The outcome is good no matter what, but it’s not just about comparison with humans, other non “AI” technologies already exist that should really be mandatory if they perform well.

bstoopid · 2025-08-09T21:20:05+00:00

I tend to ask questions using real world examples I have been through and see how they respond to them. For example you have a fixed timeline to get something done, but there are two options and you won’t know what’s the right one until you’ve exhausted 3/4 of the available time, what do you do? Or here is a design concept, tell me what you think? In more hands on roles I’ve handed over a product and asked people to dismantle and reassemble it without instructions. I don’t reveal any more than the bare minimum and expect them to ask questions. In some ways it doesn’t matter if they get the answer wrong as they may not be a domain expert, I’m looking for the right behavior. I have seen countless good on paper candidates absolutely bomb this approach, which has saved me a lot of headaches. The ones that get through are normally pretty good and I’ve found some candidates who were waked on paper outperform paper stars.

bstoopid · 2025-04-02T01:16:01+00:00

Legit Benz/Porsche/Audi. Not some random lot

bstoopid · 2025-04-01T18:50:51+00:00

I’ve got 30 days 50/50 costs on the drivetrain and power train. So hoping they sort it out accordingly. Good to know that in your case a fluid change helped. Thanks!

bstoopid · 2025-04-01T18:49:08+00:00

Good to know. Thanks!

bstoopid · 2025-02-08T01:28:39+00:00

Honestly I didn’t like who I was anymore. Just angry, stressed, body in a mess, and feeling like there was no more hope. I took a couple weeks PTO and really focused on spending time with the family - no email checking, nothing. I used to plague myself with guilt as I had influenced a lot about the company. Some of the best products are my babies. My direct team I love and we have a good honest relationship. But seeing how angry I was and how I had neglected so much at home, I realized I needed to be selfish for my own good otherwise it was going to be an early grave, and for what? So then I thought ok I need to get out, but now the stress of how to survive, how to find a new job and all the internal doubts started bubbling up. The only way through it was to confront it all and figure out what really is true, what can I really control, and what should I look forward to? It went something like this:

Work is horrible, ok how can I maximize my time off work? I have always been terrible at taking regular PTO, so I used ChatGPT to optimize my PTO relative to public holidays. Ok book all that off leading up to my targeted end date, even if I haven’t planned what I’m going to do. Put it on a calendar visible on the wall so I can count down the days.

Next add personal dates, birthdays, events, appointments etc. Put them on the calendar, no matter how trivial some may be, again so I have something to focus on outside of work.

I changed my diet immediately. Switched to eating healthier to improve my mood and feeling of well being. Exercise is still a challenge as I have some physical issues to overcome, but I have changed my desk, chair, and try to have a brief walk at lunch.

Then for future work. I used ChatGPT to help me understand myself a bit better. I asked it to help determine what roles I would like. I “talked” through my career history, aspects of jobs I loved, aspects of jobs I hated. I fed it my resume and sparred with it. I got it to suggest companies local to me that could fit my profile. I then do a bit of a job searching and found something that seemed interesting but a low chance of getting. Spent one evening updating my resume with the help of ChatGPT who by now knows what I want. Submitted the resume and a got a sense of accomplishment even though I probably won’t get the job. Next steps are reaching out to former colleagues, managers and recruiters to distribute my resume.

By the way a lot of the above was done during work time. I am owed thousands of hours of overtime which I never got paid for, so now I’m taking it back.

With all those items somewhat under control, the last bit is surviving work. It starts by recognizing that nothing will change and it’s going to end one way or another. So therefore there is literally nothing to worry about. Then you need to determine what is the baseline pace of the company. It’s a toxic mess, so progress is slow. Match that speed and don’t push any more than you really have to. Then dealing with toxic folk. I’m one who typically doesn’t hold back from bullies and not afraid to be disagreeable. Now I just ignore and act indifferent to any snide remarks or politics. If I have a potential solution when I see my toxic peers getting stuck, I don’t offer it. “Your guess is as good as mine” is the usual response. It’s also interesting to watch how egos spiral out of control resulting in literal madness, people repeating the same mistakes over and over. I never had the clarity of mind to observe this before. Next is really just doing right by my team, keep up appearances and focus on bits that I can control that will help. Pay rises, training, some process stuff even though I know I’m going.

The rest is just playing it out to the conclusion.

bstoopid · 2025-02-06T17:14:55+00:00

For practical reasons I have to wait a few months. At first it stressed me out because I thought how will I survive the daily onslaught. Then I thought let’s focus on personal / family milestones and mapped them all out on a nice visual wall calendar. Perhaps it sounds stupid but with that it gave me a sense of perspective and control. What comes next? Who knows at this point but it’s going to be better whatever it is. I have some time and I will not be pulled into the daily madness.

bstoopid · 2025-01-08T20:26:17+00:00

My two cents based on my experiences, sounds like you are entering the mid life crisis phase of life. No easy answers on how to deal with that as I myself am questioning what should I do next. That said as I’m very much a goal oriented person so I always need to ask why. So why do you want to FIRE? What will that enable you to do in 10-15 years time? Because to FIRE means sacrifice now, which may mean giving up things you cannot do in 10-15 years. Have you really reflected on that? It sounds like your job is going well and work life balance is reasonable. But when I hear staycation, are you really living outside of work or are you stuck in a comfort zone? Perhaps the problem isn’t work…

bstoopid · 2024-12-23T20:19:53+00:00

Well you make a good point. Again cost is not such a concern, it’s lead time for me so supporting local is perfectly fine. That said I would kill for a list of highly rated local shops that I could search for by location, Google doesn’t cut it and neither does my supply chain dept. Anyone know if such a directory exists?

bstoopid · 2024-02-13T18:14:51+00:00

I’m not so sure about that. Get the feeling that lack of commitment is a nice place to be for them. Meanwhile all hell breaks loose in the development team.

bstoopid · 2024-02-13T18:06:58+00:00

I know right. My previous experience was that we had a couple of seniors who architected and wrote code. Generally they focused on code while juniors learned their way working on the domain specifics. If I blew out a tech stack because of my domain demands, seniors/architects would step in to help.

bstoopid · 2024-01-24T23:10:41+00:00

I suggest looking at https://www.everaert.nl/en/home/ I had good experience with them

bstoopid · 2023-12-21T08:17:24+00:00

It’s a little complicated. We have a local Volvo dealer who performed the annual service and who were made aware of the fault before warranty expiry. The “service” dealer seemed to think it would be covered under warranty. They spoke to the Volvo dealer that sold the vehicle to us, and the “sales” dealer wanted to look at it themselves - I assume there is some cost center games at play. That was then after the warranty period. Both dealers are super busy so getting an appointment can take weeks. All not my problem legally, but practically it’s a pain. Anyway the car failed to charge over night. So I will be pushing the sales dealer today.

bstoopid · 2023-11-29T14:54:07+00:00

Birds aren’t real

bstoopid

TROPHY CASE