5 Questions With a Robotics Engineer: What Canadian Buyers Need to Know

Inside the Mind of a Canadian Robotics Engineer

We spoke with Dr. Sarah Chen (name changed for privacy), a robotics integration engineer who has spent the last three years deploying collaborative and humanoid robots in Canadian manufacturing facilities. She's worked with Unitree, Universal Robots, and most recently helped evaluate humanoid platforms for a major Ontario automotive supplier.

Here are her candid answers to five questions every Canadian robot buyer should consider.

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1. What's the biggest mistake companies make when buying their first robot?

Dr. Chen: "Overspecifying. Almost every company I work with initially wants the most capable, most expensive robot they can find. They'll look at Boston Dynamics Atlas and say 'we want that.'

But when you actually map their use case, 80% of them need a $25K Unitree G1 or a $40K cobot, not a $500K research platform. The key is to be brutally honest about what you actually need the robot to do today, not what you might want it to do in five years.

My rule of thumb: buy for your current use case, ensure the platform can grow, and plan to upgrade in 3–5 years when the technology will be dramatically better and cheaper."

2. How do you evaluate if a humanoid robot is right vs. a cobot?

Dr. Chen: "I use a simple test: does the task require the robot to move between locations? If the answer is yes — moving parts between stations, navigating hallways, handling tasks in different areas of the facility — then a humanoid is the right choice. A cobot is bolted to a table and excels at what it can reach from that fixed position.

The other deciding factor is task variability. If you're doing the same pick-and-place operation 10,000 times a day, a cobot will outperform a humanoid in speed and consistency. But if your operators are doing 15 different tasks throughout a shift and you need a robot that can adapt, a humanoid's AI-driven flexibility is unmatched.

What I see happening increasingly is both deployed in the same facility. Cobots handle the fixed-station, high-rep work. Humanoids handle the in-between — material transport, exception handling, and the varied tasks that are hard to automate with traditional approaches."

3. What surprises Canadian companies most about deploying humanoid robots?

Dr. Chen: "Three things consistently surprise people: First, the speed of AI improvement. A humanoid robot you buy today will be significantly smarter six months from now through software updates. This is fundamentally different from traditional industrial robots where what you buy is what you get. Companies that understand this invest in platforms with strong software update pipelines. Second, the social dynamics. Human workers' reaction to humanoid robots is different from their reaction to robotic arms. A cobot bolted to a station is perceived as equipment. A humanoid walking around is perceived as a coworker — or a threat. Change management matters enormously. The companies that succeed invest in communication and training before the robot arrives. Third, Canadian winter. Nearly every outdoor or semi-outdoor deployment plan I've seen fails to account for temperature. Most humanoids are rated 0–40°C. Canadian winters routinely hit -20°C or colder. Indoor-only is the safe path for now. The Unitree H1-2 is one of few platforms rated for cold weather."

4. What's your advice on financing and government incentives?

Dr. Chen: "Aggressively pursue government incentives. Seriously — the money is there and most companies don't know about it or think it's too complicated to apply.

SR&ED is the big one. If you're doing any custom integration or development work with your robot (and you almost certainly will), that work likely qualifies. I've seen companies recoup 25–35% of their total project cost through SR&ED claims.

IRAP is fantastic for SMEs — non-repayable grants up to $500K. The application process takes time, but the ROI on that time investment is enormous.

Don't forget provincial programmes. Ontario's Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit, Alberta Innovates, and Investissement Québec all have robotics-relevant funding streams.

My tip: hire a grant consultant. They typically work on contingency (10–15% of the grant secured). For a $200K project, if they secure $50K in grants, their $7.5K fee pays for itself many times over."

5. What's your prediction for humanoid robots in Canada by 2028?

Dr. Chen: "I think we'll see three major shifts: First, pricing will collapse. The Unitree G1 at $16K in 2026 will have competitors at $10K by 2028. Tesla's scale will push this even further. Humanoid robots will become as accessible as industrial cobots are today. Second, every major Canadian manufacturer will have at least one humanoid in operation. Not necessarily production-critical, but in pilot or supporting roles. The Toyota/Agility deployment at Woodstock will be the catalyst. No manufacturing CEO wants to be the last to adopt. Third, the RaaS model will dominate. Most humanoid deployments will be leased, not purchased. The technology evolves too fast to commit capital. Monthly service fees with included maintenance and upgrades will become the standard.

The wild card is Sanctuary AI. If they can deliver Phoenix at scale from Vancouver, Canada could become a net exporter of humanoid robots — a massive strategic advantage."

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