AFirst deep dataset
Motion & Actuation
Joints, drives, transmissions, motors and feedback—normalized at the test-condition level.
Source-linked robot component database
Robot hardware claims,
context attached.
RCI is independently operated, but the catalog is not independently tested. It separates manufacturer claims, external verification, RCI derivations, conflicts and unknowns—and publishes the current mix upfront.
Coverage modelFive linked layers
01 / AActuation02 / BPerception03 / CCompute04 / DPower05 / EIntegrationCoverage is broad. Independent verification is not.
These are claim states, not product scores. “V” means a qualified external record supports a claim; it still does not mean RCI physically tested the component.
1,080M · manufacturer claimed (89.6%)
6V · independently verified (0.5%)
119D + C + U · derived, conflicting or unknown
0RCI physical component tests
The current catalog contains 120 exact models and 1,205 claim records: 1,080 M, 6 V, 1 D, 6 C and 112 U. Source depth is also thin: for 84 of 120 models, every manufacturer-published claim currently traces to a single manufacturer URL. RCI’s primary contribution today is structured, condition-preserving source work—not product certification or a testing lab result.
Independent-evidence status
33 of 120 catalog models have direct external component measurements. 14 of 1,205 claims are independently supported.
Those are the honest headline numbers. A further 57 models link only to weaker bounded evidence—system-context, family-level, certification or publisher-hosted records—which does not verify manufacturer performance envelopes. 214 assessed claims remain inconclusive, 977 are unassessed, and RCI has run zero physical component tests.
One robot. Five hardware layers. No isolated spec sheets.
Every category is structured around the questions engineers and procurement teams actually face: performance under stated conditions, interfaces, verified combinations, lifecycle and replacement evidence.
BPartial exact-model coverage
Perception & Sensing
Cameras, LiDAR, radar, inertial and tactile sensing—mapped with calibration and interface evidence.
CPartial exact-model coverage
Compute & Control
Main computers, accelerators and real-time controllers—compared beyond headline TOPS.
DPartial exact-model coverage
Power & Energy
Battery packs, BMS, conversion and charging—tracked with safety, thermal and duty-cycle conditions.
EFoundation layer
Interfaces & Integration
The mechanical, electrical, data, timing, thermal and software edges where components succeed or fail together.
A primary source is not the same thing as independent proof.
RCI labels the status of each claim—not just the reputation of the document that contains it.
Independently verified
Supported by a qualified external record independent of the manufacturer claim. This claim state does not by itself mean RCI physically tested the product; the separate EV0–EV6 work level states what was actually done.
Manufacturer claimed
Directly stated by the manufacturer; useful primary evidence, but not independent verification.
RCI derived
Calculated or normalized by RCI with the source values, units and method preserved.
Conflicting
Credible sources disagree. The conflict remains visible until evidence resolves it.
Unknown
No adequate public evidence. Unknown is a valid result, not a blank to fill with inference.
The front edge of robotics is scattered across documents that were never designed to agree.
RCI monitors standards, papers, engineering repositories, patents, filings, government programmes, events and media leads—then records what may be cited, summarized or republished.
101monitored source channels
74primary or first-party channels
5reuse / commentary classes
5connected hardware layers
First operating rule
Unknown is a result—not a defect to hide.
RCI will publish missing test conditions, incompatible definitions and unresolved conflicts when those gaps are more useful than a false comparison.
- 01Preserve the original value, unit, test condition and source location.
- 02Keep manufacturer claims separate from independent measurements.
- 03Show conflicts instead of silently choosing the cleaner number.
- 04Publish corrections and material changes with timestamps.
Latest research and editorial updates.
61 publications are available. The latest field guide shows how to verify model identity, claim meaning, operating conditions, evidence state, source date and conflicts before comparing robot components.
RCI 061 · Editorial method notePublished
RCI Indexes the Transparent: Naming the Inclusion Bias in a Published-Source Catalog
A catalog built on published-source availability systematically over-samples manufacturers that already document well and under-samples the opaque vendors an independent index exists to scrutinize. This note names that bias, quantifies where it shows, and commits to documentation-gap records as the counterweight.
RCI 060 · Coverage-gap auditPublished
Power Coverage Audit: 14 Records and Not One 48 V Robot System Pack
Eight of the fourteen power-energy records are removable smart battery packs from three portable-power vendors, three are bare 21700 cells, and none is a 48 V system pack, charger, power-distribution unit or hot-swap dock of the kind humanoid and mobile-robot power chains are actually built around. The gap is published as explicit debt with named first targets.
RCI 059 · Coverage-gap auditPublished
Interface Layer Audit: 10 of 11 Records Are CAN Interface Devices
The interfaces-and-integration layer promises mechanical, electrical, data, timing and thermal edges. What it currently contains is ten CAN/CAN FD interface devices from four vendors plus one unmanaged Ethernet switch. This audit states the mismatch plainly and lists what an honest integration layer requires before the category name is earned.
RCI 058 · Catalog data briefPublished
Source-Concentration Audit: 84 of 120 Models Trace Every Manufacturer Claim to One URL
Data Brief 005 measures how many distinct manufacturer source URLs stand behind each catalog record: 84 models rest on a single URL, 30 on two and 6 on three, with 151 distinct URLs behind all 1,080 manufacturer-published claims. The metric now appears on every component page, because a well-structured single-source record is still a single-source record.
RCI 057 · Editorial transparency notePublished
A Second External Critique, Checked Point by Point: What Held, What Changed
An external reviewer called the catalog rehosted manufacturer specs with decorative evidence states and performative numbers. RCI verified each factual claim against its own frozen data—most held—and shipped changes: direct-measurement counts now lead every evidence headline, the self-set 90-model milestone is replaced, source concentration is disclosed per model, and the pre-registration file is no longer presented as data.
RCI 056 · Engineering field guidePublished
Before You Compare Robot Components: An Evidence-First Verification Guide
A practical workflow for checking exact model identity, claim meaning, operating conditions, evidence state, source date and unresolved conflicts before treating two robot-component specifications as comparable.
RCI 055 · Editorial transparency notePublished
A Candid Audit of RCI’s Evidence Base: What the Catalog Can—and Cannot—Support
RCI publishes the uncomfortable baseline plainly: 1,080 of 1,205 catalog claims are manufacturer-published, only six carry independent verification, and RCI has completed zero physical component tests. The note also addresses the August publication burst, repeated headline patterns and AI-assisted workflow.
RCI 054 · Catalog release delta data briefPublished
Actuation Depth Wave 1 Catalog Delta: 17 Added Motion Records, 260 Added Claims, 0 Removed IDs
Data Brief 004 compares frozen catalog v0.4.14 and v0.4.15 — motion-actuation grows 26→43 exact records across joint modules, reducers and frameless kits, with seven new manufacturers — while independently verified claims stay at 6, comparisons stay at 6 and zero claim IDs are removed.