[ehnto]

I have had good discussions with a colleague about this, where developers lean toward getting roadblocked by all possible engineering problems, they advocate checking to see if there are solutions to the problem that don't require engineering.

In this example, I think they'd suggest communication first then solve the engineering problem later.

Eg: just tell people they need to clear the floor or it can get stuck. People will still want it.

Perhaps the next step is lower touch engineering, ie: beep when it's stuck.

I tend toward engineering stuff, but I have come to realize you can't always afford the engineered solution, and that doesn't have to stop you from delivering stuff.

[bckr]

Coming up with these scenarios is called de-risking and engineers need to do it!

To your point, people own Roombas, which is kinda like this with no arms.