Bootstrapped founder building a humanoid — wheeled base, bipedal, or wheeled + vertical rail? Looking for a reality check.(reddit.com)

I'm starting a small robotics company (first-timer, bootstrapped right now, my only hardware is a Bambu 3D printer). The product is a humanoid focused on upper-body work: arms, shoulders, waist, neck, and an expressive head/face. Walking long distances or stairs is NOT a core requirement. I'm stuck between three architectures: Full bipedal 1:1 humanoid: most impressive, but dynamic balance looks like an enormous money/time sink for a small team. AGV/wheeled base + fixed-height humanoid upper body: stable, simpler, cheaper, but the torso can't change height (limited reach). AGV/wheeled base + a vertical rail (prismatic Z-lift) so the whole upper body slides up and down, floor-to-high-shelf reach, with the arms/neck/head working like a human. My current thinking: make #3 the target product, but get there in phases starting from #2, and treat bipedal as a long-term R&D thing (maybe never). The logic is to skip the hardest problem (balance) while keeping the valuable part (manipulation + reach + interaction). Questions for people who've actually built this stuff: - Is phasing #2 → #3 the right call, or am I missing something obvious? - For option 3, how much of a stability headache is raising mass on a rail when the arms extend? How wide/heavy does the base realistically need to be? - Biggest money traps for a first-timer? I'm planning to BUY actuators (Unitree / RobStride / CubeMars / Dynamixel-class) rather than build my own — sane? - ROS 2 + Jetson Orin + open VLA models for the brain — reasonable starting stack? Not trying to out-build Figure or Unitree. Just want to pick the smartest first product for a lean team. Happy to share progress back. Thanks in advance rather hear the hard truths now than after I've spent the budget. submitted by /u/ResponsibleCreme4620 [link] [Kommentare]