When designing a robot it may help to consider where you think it might do its thing. So here's perhaps an enumeration of robot working environments: * entirely smooth vinyl, wood or concrete floor, indoor * mostly smooth wood or tile floor, indoor * typical indoor flooring, with transitions (smooth, tiled, carpet and rug) * relatively smooth outdoor (concrete sidewalk, wood deck, parking lot) * moderately even suburban outdoor (concrete, lawn, transitions, but no stairs, curbs, or cliffs) * challenging suburban outdoor (concrete, curbs, stairs, cliffs) * wild environments (sand or beach, up in the mountains, tree branches, rocks, cliffs, anything goes) * snow * water surface * water surface/amphibious * underwater * airborne * outer space or other planets There's also the notion of whether a robot can handle rain or spray. Or on a beach, can it avoid the waves? See also: [Robot Related Goals] ---- [{Tag RobotDesign}]