Where do robot arm specs usually break down in real deployments?

ROS ROS General
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I’m interested in examples from people who have deployed, integrated, or specified robot arms in real environments.

When a robot arm looks good on paper but struggles in the actual cell, what is usually the limiting factor?

Some examples I’m curious about:

  • payload-at-reach

  • wrist torque

  • EOAT / tooling weight

  • stiffness or compliance

  • thermal limits

  • continuous duty cycle

  • safe speed vs. required cycle time

  • dust, water, shock, or harsh environments

  • integration cost / cell complexity

Have you seen projects where the arm was technically close, but the system had to be oversized, slowed down, redesigned, or abandoned?

I’m especially interested in concrete examples:

  1. What was the task?

  2. What constraint showed up?

  3. What did the team do instead?

Looking for field lessons, not brand debates.