>Mechanical solutions are cheaper up front, but you'll be fixing them weekly. So a robot that can do this can sell for ~$50000 and be profitable from day 1 Are

>Mechanical solutions are cheaper up front, but you'll be fixing them weekly. So a robot that can do this can sell for ~$50000 and be profitable from day 1 Aren't you ignoring potential reliability issues of a robot though? A lot more moving parts in a robot than a simple motor on a pivot point.