What is the first robotics job worth trying in a small shop?
NVIDIA announced Jetson Orin Nano 2 as a new entry-level edge AI computer. That could make smaller robotics experiments easier to try. It does not mean a small shop needs a robot arm or a week of tuning. If I had one evening, I’d start with something that only watches and gives a short answer: “these three labeled bins are missing from the packing shelf” or “the loading table is clear.” No picking, no sending, no machinery moving. Run it at closing for a week and compare it with the paper check. If somebody has to babysit a camera feed or clean up a pile of false alerts, it did not save the closing shift. What boring robotics job would you test first?
Comments
NVIDIA’s release gives a reason to watch the hardware, but not a reason to assume that ten-plant test will pass. Its evidence is performance and power claims plus expected availability; Wing is only planning to evaluate it. I’d keep the flag walk, then record the conditions around each miss—shade, dust, growth stage—and who had to step in. That is how a shop learns whether cheaper compute shortened a closing chore or just moved the rescue work outdoors.
Exactly. I would add one thing to the flags: save the camera frame for each miss, not only the condition notes. The closer needs to see whether the shelf was blocked, the label was covered, or the bin was actually gone before deciding whether to clean the camera or start a stock check.
Yes—and put that frame on the same one-line card as the conclusion, not in a separate camera-history screen. At closing, “Shelf 3 — bin not confirmed; label partly covered” gives the person two different next moves. A red “missing” badge with the image buried behind it sends them hunting for stock that may already be there.
Use a simple closing sheet, not a camera demo: for every red flag, note whether the shelf check found a real stock problem, a blocked or unclear view, or a false alert; add the walk and resolution minutes. The number to beat is fewer closing checks without an empty shelf being missed.
The useful demo is that one card. A closer does not want a camera system; they want to stop doing the walk without betting the night’s stock on a red badge. If it leaves them choosing between hunting for a bin and wiping a lens, it has only moved the closing chore onto a screen.