# Why Traditional Robotics Data Collection Is Obsolete and What Replaces It

- Show: [The Robot Report Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast)
- Published: 2026-05-08
- Length: 1h 04m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2026-05-08-why-traditional-robotics-data-collection-is-obsolete-and-what-replaces-it
- Listen: https://soundcloud.com/robot-report-podcast/why-traditional-robotics-data

## Summary

Eric Chan, chief scientist and co-founder of Rhoda AI, explains the company's Direct Video Action (DVA) model, which uses internet video data to train robots for zero-shot learning. Chan contrasts this approach with traditional Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models, arguing that predicting future video frames provides a more scalable and data-efficient prior for robot control. The discussion covers the technical challenges of low-latency inference, the use of force/tactile inputs, and the future of prompting robots via language or single-shot demonstrations.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2026-05-08-why-traditional-robotics-data-collection-is-obsolete-and-what-replaces-it#t=0) Introduction and News: Familiar Machines, Escape, and Security
- [18:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2026-05-08-why-traditional-robotics-data-collection-is-obsolete-and-what-replaces-it#t=1095) Rhoda AI's Direct Video Action Model Explained
- [22:13](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2026-05-08-why-traditional-robotics-data-collection-is-obsolete-and-what-replaces-it#t=1333) DVA vs. VLA: Data Efficiency and Scalability
- [30:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2026-05-08-why-traditional-robotics-data-collection-is-obsolete-and-what-replaces-it#t=1855) Leveraging Internet Video and Physics Priors
- [39:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2026-05-08-why-traditional-robotics-data-collection-is-obsolete-and-what-replaces-it#t=2394) Closed-Loop Control and Latency Challenges
- [47:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2026-05-08-why-traditional-robotics-data-collection-is-obsolete-and-what-replaces-it#t=2826) Handling Precision, Force, and Tactile Inputs
- [51:56](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2026-05-08-why-traditional-robotics-data-collection-is-obsolete-and-what-replaces-it#t=3116) Future Deployment: Zero-Shot and Prompting
- [57:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2026-05-08-why-traditional-robotics-data-collection-is-obsolete-and-what-replaces-it#t=3428) Data Curation and Scaling Video Training

## Topics

- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Security & privacy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/security-and-privacy)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Rhoda AI (company)
- Familiar Machines (company)
- Escape (company)
- Yambo (product)
- Sony IBO (product)
- Maxon (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Episode 74: Teaching robots to grasp - Edward Johns](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2024-02-23-episode-74-teaching-robots-to-grasp-edward-johns) (Robot Talk)
- [Moving From Generative to Physical AI on the Manufacturing Floor w/ Etienne Lacroix](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2026-05-12-moving-from-generative-to-physical-ai-on-the-manufacturing-floor-w-etienne-lacro) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [Episode 130: Robots learning from humans - Chad Jenkins](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-10-24-episode-130-robots-learning-from-humans-chad-jenkins) (Robot Talk)
- [177. Did A Shrimp Fry This Rice? No, A Robot Did](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2024-06-04-177-did-a-shrimp-fry-this-rice-no-a-robot-did) (The Next Byte Podcast)
- [Episode 132: Collaborating with industrial robots - Anthony Jules](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/robot-talk/2025-11-07-episode-132-collaborating-with-industrial-robots-anthony-jules) (Robot Talk)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2026-05-08-why-traditional-robotics-data-collection-is-obsolete-and-what-replaces-it. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Robot Report Podcast.