A Cornell University Master's project is surveying robotics developers to identify the primary bottlenecks in their daily workflows.
The four-minute survey, posted to the r/robotics subreddit by user Realistic-Ganache446, seeks quantitative data on where robotics teams spend their time. According to the researcher, preliminary conversations with developers highlight recurring delays in sim-to-real transfer, hardware availability, debugging deployment failures, and extended testing timelines.
The questionnaire focuses on specific software and middleware usage. It asks developers about their reliance on ROS and ROS2, as well as simulation tools including Isaac, Gazebo, and MuJoCo. The survey also tracks how teams utilize reinforcement learning (RL), vision-language-action (VLA) models, and classical software stacks. Additional sections cover world modeling, testing, validation, and deployment failures.
The researcher is specifically seeking input from developers actively working on physical robots. Participants can opt into a follow-up interview, which includes a $25 Amazon gift card.
Identifying the specific technical hurdles in modern robotics development—from middleware integration to sim-to-real gaps—clarifies where tooling companies and open-source maintainers must focus their efforts to reduce engineering delays.