Launch HN: Polymath Robotics (YC S22) – General autonomy for industrial vehicles
Honestly wish you all the best here! Truly, it's great that you're trying to simplify the deployment of robotics, because that would be great for everyone.<p>One thing I have to say looking at your website, is that is has serious "Underpants Gnomes" vibes.<p>1. Build in sim
2. Test in sim
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3. Deploy on a real robot<p>Taking something from simulation and having it work "effortlessly" (as your marketing puts it) is sort of the holy grail of robotics. It's something that has confounded researchers and roboticists for a long time, so I'm a little bit skeptical as to whether your product actually lives up to the promises made in your marketing material. It would help if you showed more demos of what this means in a practical sense. In the video on your website it shows a simulated tractor, and then a tractor moving in an open field with no obstacles. This is pretty much the best case scenario, but how does it actually perform in more realistic scenarios?<p>Going into your FAQ a little, it seems to suggest the process isn't so seamless:<p><pre><code>  We’ve built Polymath with the goal of a seamless transition from sim to reality (other than necessary-but-minimal tuning of controls).
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"Necessary-but-minimal" is kind of understating how difficult sensor calibration and controller tuning is. It's all the difference between a simulated world and the real world (and also necessitates the need for controls and perception experts, which your marketing seems to imply are not needed or minimally necessary with your product). I'm curious how your product makes this process easier.<p>It appears like your value-add is that your product simplifies the whole ROS tech stack to some degree, but to me I would imagine transitioning from sim to reality without much work would imply that you have made real advancements in simulation technology. Is that the case? Or does your product mostly address improvements in the development experience?