How Bucket Robotics Turned Its First CES Into a Business Opportunity
When the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) approached, the forecast for Las Vegas was anything but reassuring. For San Francisco–based startup Bucket Robotics, the original plan was simple but risky: each employee would carry pieces of the company’s exhibition booth in their luggage. Founder and CEO Matt Puchalski ultimately decided against it, unwilling to gamble on delayed flights disrupting the company’s first major industry appearance.
Instead, Puchalski rented a Hyundai Santa Fe and drove the equipment himself.
“It was… it was tight,” he said with a laugh while standing on the show floor.
After a 12-hour drive through heavy rain, both the gear and the CEO arrived safely in Las Vegas, marking the official start of Bucket Robotics’ first-ever CES experience.
Standing Out at the World’s Biggest Tech Show
At CES, Bucket Robotics was one exhibitor among thousands—“a speck of sand on a beach full of products and promises.” The startup’s booth sat in the automotive-focused West Hall, a modest presence compared with global tech giants. Yet, according to Puchalski, the effort proved worthwhile.
A key factor was stamina and preparation. Throughout the week, Puchalski was a constant presence—moving between the exhibition floor, networking events, and impromptu late-night discussions.
An engineer by training, Puchalski previously spent nearly a decade working on autonomous vehicle technologies at Uber, Argo AI, Ford subsidiary Latitude AI, and SoftBank-backed Stack AV. Those roles helped him build deep connections across the automotive and mobility sectors.
Those connections were on display throughout CES. One night, he appeared at an industry networking event; another evening, he was seen at 10 p.m. in a hotel lobby debating manufacturing yield and quality trade-offs with Sanjay Dastoor, founder of mobility startups Skip and Boosted—both also born out of Y Combinator.
A YC Startup Focused on Manufacturing Quality
Bucket Robotics emerged from Y Combinator’s Spring 2024 batch with a clear mission: automate surface quality inspections using advanced computer vision systems.
The company focuses on a task Puchalski jokingly described as being handled by “dudes in Wisconsin,” referring to manual inspection work common in US manufacturing plants. Beyond automation, the broader goal is to support the reshoring of manufacturing across multiple industries.
A common example is car door handles—components that must be structurally sound and visually flawless. While ensuring structural integrity is largely a solved problem, surface quality remains challenging.
Is the color consistent? Are there burn marks or scuffs?
“It’s deeply hard to automate these types of challenges without huge volumes of data, so auto manufacturers just throw dudes in Wisconsin at this problem,” Puchalski said.
Solving the Data Problem With Simulation
Bucket Robotics addresses this challenge by starting with CAD files of specific components. From there, the system generates simulated defects—burn marks, bumps, and breaks—allowing its vision software to learn what to detect before deployment.
The approach eliminates the need for manual data labeling. According to the company, its models can deploy “in minutes” and adapt quickly when products or production lines change. Another major selling point is compatibility: Bucket Robotics can integrate into existing production lines without adding new hardware, Puchalski said.
This capability has already attracted customers in both the automotive and defense sectors, positioning the startup as a potential “dual-use” company—serving both commercial and government markets.
Strong Interest From Industry and Investors
When CES officially opened, the first two hours were “intense,” Puchalski said. Attendees in business suits crowded the tables, picked up orange Bucket Robotics logo stickers, and questioned the team about the technology.
More importantly, interest remained steady throughout the week. Puchalski said he held “real technical discussions” with professionals from manufacturing, robotics, and automation. By the Friday after the event, he was already spending his time on follow-up calls with potential customers and investors.
What Comes After CES
CES is often described as exhausting—and Bucket Robotics felt that reality firsthand. Still, the company emerged encouraged. The real challenge now lies ahead: building a scalable business, securing funding, and converting conversations into commercial agreements.
As for concerns about replacing human inspectors, Puchalski doesn’t see Bucket Robotics as a threat to jobs.
Those roles, he explained, go beyond spotting defects—they often involve identifying the root cause of manufacturing issues. And, he added, automating surface inspection is a problem manufacturers have been trying to solve for decades.
“So when we go to our customers, it’s incredibly exciting,” he said.
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