Research & Lab Robots
Platforms for university and corporate R&D labs — what to evaluate before you buy.
The research-robot procurement RFP: questions and red flags
A structured RFP for research robot procurement covers SDK openness, ROS 2 support, spare parts, export control, and end-of-life risk. This is the checklist tha…
A 90-day playbook to stand up a new platform in a lab
Most research robot deployments fail at the handoff: the student who set it up leaves, and no one can reproduce the environment. This 90-day playbook builds rep…
Matching research robot platform to research goal
The wrong platform for a research domain creates years of friction. This domain-by-domain breakdown maps hardware categories to research goals and evaluates ROS…
Buy vs build vs simulate: the research robot decision
Not every robotics research program needs a commercial platform on day one. A rigorous decision framework helps labs avoid expensive hardware commitments before…
The real cost of a research platform
The sticker price is rarely the biggest line item. Integration engineering, sensor stacks, student labor, and an obsolescence cycle add up fast. Here is how to …
Why research robot purchases get stranded
Closed SDKs, missing ROS support, and a departed grad student can turn a six-figure platform into expensive furniture. Here is the framework for buying a resear…