Reading the Spec Sheet
How to interpret payload, reach, IP ratings, safety certs.
The hidden specs vendors hope you'll miss
Payload, reach, and repeatability are easy to compare. The specifications that actually determine whether a robot succeeds in your operation — stopping time, MT…
Battery life, charge time, and uptime math
An AMR's advertised battery life of 10 hours sounds like a full shift. After you account for real payload, real speeds, charging strategy, and battery degradati…
Safety certifications you can't fake — ISO 10218, ISO/TS 15066, ANSI/RIA
ISO 10218, ISO/TS 15066, and ANSI/RIA R15.06 define different layers of robot safety — and all three apply to most industrial deployments, even if only one appe…
Cycle time vs real-world throughput: why brochure claims are misleading
A robot's datasheet cycle time is measured under laboratory conditions that do not exist on your floor. Understanding the gap between nameplate cycle time and p…
IP ratings explained: when IP54 isn't enough
IP54 appears on hundreds of robot datasheets and means almost nothing without knowing the test conditions. Here is what IEC 60529 actually measures, which ratin…
Payload, reach, repeatability: what the headline numbers actually mean
Vendor datasheets lead with payload, reach, and repeatability — but the test conditions behind those numbers often make them meaningless for your application. H…