The hard parts of robotics are supposed to be perception, planning, and control. So why does so much of the day go to everything that comes before them?
The hidden setup tax in every robotics simulation project
Ask anyone what's hard about robotics and you'll get the same list: perception, planning, control, navigation. The genuinely interesting problems.
If you track where your hours actually go, though, a strange thing shows up. A big chunk of the day disappears before you reach any of that. You're not solving hard problems yet. You're just getting to the starting line: wiring up a workspace, writing description files, stitching together launch files, and coaxing a simulator into opening without errors.
It's the unglamorous tax on every project, and most of us have quietly accepted it as the cost of doing business.
