A robot's total cost of ownership includes more than the quoted hardware price. To compare options, use the same task, time period, and operating assumptions, then separate confirmed quote items from estimates. A lower headline price can still require more site work, support, or staff intervention.
This worksheet is a procurement planning method. It does not forecast returns or establish that a robot will replace paid labor. Use supplier quotes and observed operating data rather than treating an illustrative calculator as a business case.
Define the comparison boundary
Write the task, site, expected operating hours, planning period, and number of units. State whether the system must integrate with doors, elevators, software, or other equipment. Two quotes cannot be compared fairly when one includes those requirements and the other excludes them.
Choose a currency and record whether taxes, shipping, and installation are included. Note the quote date and any expiration. Keep purchase and lease terms visible instead of mixing a hardware purchase with another option's monthly payment.
Use a simple label for every entry: quoted, measured, or estimated. That distinction is more useful than an impressive-looking total built from unmarked guesses.
List one-time costs
Ask for hardware and accessories, delivery, site survey, installation, mapping or configuration, integration, initial training, and acceptance testing. Identify which items the supplier provides and which the site must arrange separately.
Site preparation can include network work, a charging location, route changes, and other task-specific requirements. Include the time the operation spends preparing for the system. If an item is unknown, put an explicit unresolved line in the worksheet instead of entering zero.
Confirm what happens if acceptance criteria are not met. Read the actual quote and agreement for remedies, trial terms, and responsibilities. A sales description is not a substitute for those documents.
List recurring costs
Record the lease or subscription, software licenses, support, connectivity, consumables, scheduled maintenance, and any service visits. Ask whether a fee is per robot, per site, per account, or usage-based. Include the renewal and price-change terms supplied in the contract.
Training is not always a one-time event. Staff turnover and a new workflow can require additional instruction. Ask who will handle those sessions and whether the quoted support covers them.
Record batteries, replacement parts, and end-of-life handling using the supplier's stated requirements. Avoid inventing a replacement interval when the specification or operating conditions are not known.
Measure the human work around the robot
Track loading, unloading, supervision, recovery, cleaning, and maintenance coordination. A robot can reduce travel while adding a different handoff; the full process matters.
Measure downtime as an operational event. Record how the task is completed while the system is unavailable and whether staff need to keep a backup process ready. Include the impact in the planning discussion even when a precise cost is unavailable.
Use the restaurant pilot plan for a concrete measurement sequence. For other sites, adapt the task and service periods while keeping attempted cycles and intervention time separate.
Build a transparent comparison
The basic planning total is one-time costs plus recurring costs over the selected period plus explicitly estimated operating costs. Keep financing, depreciation, tax treatment, and discounting outside this simple worksheet unless a qualified reviewer adds them for your situation.
For an illustrative twelve-month comparison, a quoted setup cost of 5,000 and recurring fees of 800 per month sum to 14,600 before other costs. The arithmetic is useful; it does not tell you whether that price is reasonable or whether the deployment will earn it back.
Create low, expected, and high operating scenarios by changing stated assumptions such as intervention time or service visits. Do not hide uncertainty behind a single precise number. The robot pilot calculator focuses on task time and interventions so you can see which observations need improving.
Bring unanswered items to the supplier
Request a written response to each unresolved line and align the quote with the site survey. A comparison is ready for review when its scope and gaps are visible, even if every estimate is not settled.
Share the worksheet with OpenDroids to discuss a task-specific configuration and quote. Actual availability, operating limits, support, and pricing should come from that conversation and the resulting documentation.
Prepared with AI assistance using the current public product and linked references. Practical checklists and illustrative examples are original planning aids. They do not establish product guarantees or replace a situation-specific review.