The Hidden Cost of Robot Relearning

Software retraining, not hardware, is becoming warehouse robotics' dominant and most underpriced cost driver.

• Retraining costs tripled: Lucas claims the average cost to retrain a warehouse robot for a new product line has tripled in three years, outpacing hardware depreciation.
• Sim-to-real gap persists: Simulated training (synthetic warehouse data) often fails on real physics—e.g., a gripper modeled perfectly in sim slips because rubber friction differs in reality.

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