Before you get started on building a robot, you should consider your need for a robotics engineering feasibility study.

Exactly What Is a Robotics Engineering Feasibility Study?

A robotic feasibility study is an in-depth look into whether or not a project makes sense. This is a pre-prototype phase, before you start getting investors on board. It is looking at your specific requirements, functionality, materials and engineering details and answering the question, “Will my vision of this robotics concept truly work, and is it worth investing in further?”

You may think your idea for a robotics project is a hands-down win-win scenario, or that it will easily solve a big problem or make lots of money. But before you get started (and before you get spending), you should let a robotics engineering group take an objective look at whether it’s really going to work.

How a Robotics Engineering Feasibility Study Will Help You

In addition to just being a smart idea, here are five specific ways that a robotics engineering feasibility study is necessary for your project.

#1 — It will help you understand the problem better

You may think your robotics solution makes complete sense, and that it will work in solving the problem it’s designed to fix. But the first step in building a solution is to thoroughly understand the problem. Robotics engineers can ask the really hard questions, where you might be too close to the process to sit back and ask on your own.

If you are an entrepreneur with business know-how, you should get the buy-in of a professional robotics engineering team from the start. The more thoroughly you understand the problem, the better you will be at selling the solution.

#2 — It will test your idea before investing in a prototype

Once you have the basic problem/solution scoped out in detail and the results of your feasibility study completed, your next step is a prototype. Many entrepreneurs start with a prototype as a first step, but in the robotics world a working prototype can cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars.

An engineering feasibility study will ensure that your idea truly works before sinking money into the prototype for the project. Testing the idea on paper and in theory (even informed, working theories) is much cheaper than testing it with a working prototype.

Questions to Ask Before Making an Investment

#3 — It will greatly decrease your financial risk

Information uncovered in the discovery phase of a robotics engineering feasibility study can help you avoid mistakes and in turn, save you money. You may find that the entire solution simply won’t work or will not be financially feasible, which would have been a big waste if you discovered it months or even years into the process.

Even with an overall solid solution, you could discover things in this process that will work more efficiently than the way you originally envisioned them. Material specifications when combined with engineering experience can determine best practices before you get started. This will immediately translate into saving time and money in the development process.

#4 — It will generate a scope of work for a fixed priced contract

Another benefit to having an engineering feasibility study is that it gives you a great scope of work which can used to create RFQs/RFPs for a variety of contract work in your “prototype” process. Let’s face it: You’d have to do this part anyway as part of the prototyping process.

So, instead of having to explain the concept from scratch, you can use professionally-compiled illustrations, designs and scope of work from the robotics engineering feasibility study.

#5 — It will help you secure additional funding for your first prototype

Your engineering feasibility study can also be used to secure funding for the first prototype. Much in the way that prototypes are used to get funding for the full project, a completed robotics engineering feasibility study can be used to get investors on board with the early stage ideas as you seek their support for funding your prototype as well.

This is a much easier first step than funding a prototype yourself so that you can get investor buy-in on the final project.

We know robots. We’re happy to help you get started on a robotics engineering feasibility study. We love solving problems and we have decades of experience creating robotics solutions. Contact us today to get started on a robotics engineering feasibility study for your next project.