Ask HN: What would it take to make a robot vacuum in the USA?

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?

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.

What about the licenses and patents? Even the app communication with some devices can be problematic in terms of patents..

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.

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.

... Just some money is needed for it. Your friendly local outsourcers also want to earn some money for a living.

So you end up with big development costs per device. No one will buy it for that costs.

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..

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.

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.

(I saw in a comment of you further down "us manufactured microcontrollers 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? )

This is just wrong; it's literally the opposite problem. The United States has been raising kids on 1960s curriculum for half a century, and now the only workers we can produce as a nation are the ones being trained and paid cheaper in China. College-for-all is the only policy that works; the United State's economy, not monetary policy, has ensured that our labor will never be competitive unless we tax imports. And if you tax imports, you might as well be admitting that the US can't compete anyways.

> But many Americans understand that the trade and monetary policies have undercut their own earning potential, and they buy those cheaper Chinese goods with great resentment, simply because _there are no longer alternatives_ in a huge number of categories.

Lmao. Yeah, with "great resentment" the average American buys their iPhone. There's just no alternative!

No, the average American (and most of the "good old boy" conservatives you're describing) care about nothing other than price and marketing. They'll piss and moan about oursourcing while buying a Vietnamese slim-jim in line to pay for Saudi-enriched fuel at the gas station. They'll shake their fist and claim it's the government's fault, but they know full-well a lassier-faire economy would only exacerbate the problems of foreign influence. China and Russia do not somehow become less equipped to manipulate our economy with less regulation. That's a fantasy.

You know what? Go build your robot vacuum. I'm actually really moved by your plight, and nothing would make me happier than watching you retread this perennial problem. Just don't come crying to me when you spend more than the MSRP of a Vision Pro paying for 4 locally made brushless encoders. We tried warning you, you insisted otherwise.