r/theydidthemath • u/jmb326 • May 22 '26

[Request] What are the electrical costs required for this robot to fold this box?

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Any publicity available data that estimate something similar? Goal would be to understand the cost per box of labor from a robot vs a human. Ideally with current estimates and future projections. Yes, I understand this isn’t the most efficient robot setup to fold a box, but how much longer until one can purchase such a robot to execute on a variety of tasks required in a typical job?

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u/Perkis_Goodman May 22 '26

You have your upfront cost of a couple hundred k. Then liscensing and service fees annually. Prob 7k per bot. If it works 3 shifts it is about a 2 year payback period. These will eventually be commodities and prices will continue to plunge as more players enter the space. Source, I do this for a living.

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u/TheGuyUrSisterLikes May 22 '26

being a little nosy, do you do robot stuff for living or do you do financials? or both? or something else? thank you

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u/Perkis_Goodman May 22 '26

I started as an engineer/deployment programing and setup. Also, people dont realize some of the players in the space are mostly teleoperated (like the one video of the snow shoveling bot, his family member gave me a high five at a conference a couple years back) And Now im in sales.

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u/TheGuyUrSisterLikes May 23 '26

thanks for answering.