Customer Background
The customer is a humanoid robot startup iterating on joint modules. Each sprint required single-piece validation with aerospace-grade tolerances.
Pain Points Before Geppetto
- Precision gaps: legacy supplier drifted ±0.02 mm, causing assembly issues.
- Slow response: 14-day lead time per iteration stalled fundraising milestones.
- Opaque pricing: parts were quoted as black-box “CNC charges,” making budgeting impossible.
Geppetto Approach
- AI-driven CAM: CAD files pass through our feature-recognition engine to auto-build 5-axis paths and predict machining time.
- Apprentice execution: trained machinists follow AI-generated programs while senior experts supervise key checkpoints.
- Closed-loop QA: inline probing and CMM reports feed back into the AI model, tightening tolerances each run.
Impact
- Precision: actual tolerance window tightened to ±0.006 mm, surface finish improved to Ra0.6.
- Cost: transparent breakdown exposed machining, finishing, QA, and logistics, cutting total cost by 47%.
- Speed: quote delivered in 8 hours; finished parts shipped in 48 hours, enabling two iterations per week.
Why It Matters
The team entered investor demos with production-ready joints, turning hardware velocity into a fundraising advantage. The same toolpath knowledge base is now reused for pilot production.***