There is no robot vacuum manufactured in the United States as far as I can tell.<p>It seems crazy to me---these devices map out the interior of people's homes and businesses, often with cameras running and a wifi connection to the Internet. Talk about an espionage giveaway... all to a certain authoritarian country in Asia which manufactures 95% of the devices.<p>I used to be a big free trade advocate but have come to feel that free trade is something of a gift, which should be given mainly to countries whose vision of the world is compatible with ours. It also should not be allowed to undermine security-critical technologies and capabilities, such as electronics and microprocessor manufacture, etc.<p>In spite of recent tariffs and moves to restrict exports of sensitive technologies, the tech ecosystem in the US seems to be in a seriously impaired position.<p>If one were to push back against this and try to launch a robot vacuum product assembled in the USA of US-made components... what would it take? What are the economic impediments to doing this in a profitable fashion? Is there an economic policy that would make this feasible?<p>It seems there are a number of key components:
* Microcontroller
* Sensors
- laser or lidar to map environment
- something to determine floor type / depth
* Bluetooth antenna to interface with a mobile app
* Vacuum
* Dust compartment
* Dock to autoclean
* Embedded software
* Mobile app<p>Such a device would be an ideal candidate for training using reinforcement learning. (Has this been tried? Or is "robot vacuum" already a solved problem?)<p>My training is in software and machine learning. Yet it is in on the material side of things where the U.S. lags the most. There are so few physical things of relevance to modern life that we are making here these days, and even fewer at a competitive price point.<p>Would love to hear others' thoughts. Thanks<p>EDIT: A relevant article from 2011: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/08/17/why-amazon-cant-make-a-kindle-in-the-usa/
There are local-only robot vacuum options: <a href="https://valetudo.cloud/" rel="nofollow">https://valetudo.cloud/</a><p>But you shouldn't ask yourself why it isn't possible. The question is why it's not successful, or why there's no demand. America is satisfied by foreign alternatives. We don't <i>want</i> secure devices, we want cheap and simple devices that come in pretty boxes with the labels we like. Roomba et. al wins because it caters to the lowest-common-denominator, the basest American that most shoppers embody.<p>And America, collectively, cannot care. You won't see a law demanding software transparency or firmware alternatives for domestic robots. We won't assemble them locally because our labor is too expensive, we won't manufacture the chips domestically because it's cheaper to import them. You won't see people owning USA-made Roombas for the same reason you don't meet people using a Purism phone instead of a Samsung/Apple handset; the market has spoken, and they are absolutely apathetic to anything but price.
"Robot vacuum" is not a solved problem. I've got a Roomba, and it mostly does the vacuuming, but sometimes gets "stuck" in the middle of the room, or maybe against a single wall. My Roomba's nemesis is chair legs, sometimes it gets under a 4-legged chair, but somehow can't find it's way back out. Comical, really. I enjoy my Roomba as something of a pet, but I have come to low expectations about vacuuming completeness.
Getting America back to manufacturing is an expensive and long term job. And it probably requires some bloodshed. No one os going to do that.<p>The next best thing is to source from countries that is not China or whoever you don't like. There are still cheaper, maybe not so cheap options in other countries. SE Asia and Eastern Europe come to mind.
It's one thing to have the parts designed and moulded, the electronic PCB boards to be made, the software to be written, assembled and packaged. The other thing is storage, warranty, distribution. But also selling and advertising should be kept in mind.<p>Up to here, it could be done as a one man job. If you're a multitasked and multitalented in using all the software for design and production. Typically it's not a one man show. So how much people are needed to be paid in such a local company?<p>But then, it goes to the regulatories. FCC approval. Some states special regulatories. Want to sell it world wide? .. Europe? .. EC sign, even more regulatory stuff like upfront waste-fee, etc.<p>What about the licenses and patents? Even the app communication with some devices can be problematic in terms of patents..<p>So, parts design, parts production, parts assembly, packaging making and packaging of the product itself, is not that big problem and can be done locally or outsourced it locally.<p>Also the whole regulatory stuff and danger analysis and what ever is needed before you actually can sell to customers, can also be done or outsourced locally.<p>... Just some money is needed for it. Your friendly local outsourcers also want to earn some money for a living.<p>So you end up with big development costs per device. No one will buy it for that costs.<p>That's why you typically search for partners, who have some experience in rapid development and prototyping. When you've found them, they also experienced in final production and packaging. And because it's their job, they often also know about the regulatory laws and/or are experienced here and use f.e. less plasticizers in the rubber..<p>Most of the times you'll find such partners in eastern/asian world. Because the wages there are lower, so a company can exist even if it doesn't make own products.<p>It's not the right question you ask. The right question would be "how expensive will it be to develop and produce locally". Because it's all about the money.<p>(I saw in a comment of you further down "us manufactured microcontrollers < $100"... That's exactly the wrong approach :)<p>Compare it with the costs somewhere else. The aim is to preinvest as less money as possible and to earn as much as possible per product. Don't forget all the other costs that will be pile up and must be turned over per device. So you might really end with 10k-20k per device. How much devices are planned to be sold in year in US? )