The RTA irons out a number of small, but cumbersome, hurdles that everyone deals with when working with IRs beyond their basic use. For example, power is often the last thing you think of when designing a custom end-effector: if you want to put motors, micro-controllers, cameras, or projectors on the end of the robot arm, how do you actually get power to these devices? You used to need a battery big enough or an extension cord long enough to run your tool. But this is inefficient and sometimes hazardous in the working area. The RTA routes normal 120V power from the robot into generic power outlets mounted right at the end of the arm. This lets you just plug-in your device and power it directly from the robot. Similarly, the on-board micro-controller is powered directly from the robot – so there's no more need to follow two steps behind your robot with a USB cord connecting your laptop to your arduino!

Another common hardware hurdle is communicating between your microcontroller and your robot. Current common-practice for an arduino-controlled end-effector is to asynchronously program the robot and microcontroller: they don't actually communicate with one another, so you have to manually pause a program running the robot to run a program on the microcontroller. The RTA enables a microcontroller and IR to communicate directly through their digital I/O's: we've integrated an additional circuit board converts a 5V signal from an arduino into a 12V signal that a robot can read (and vice versa).

The last problem to eliminate is mounting tools and sensors. It's fairly straightforward to mount a primary tool to the end of an IR: you just match up a hole pattern between tool and robot, then bolt it on. But it becomes increasingly complicated when you want to integrate additional accessories like sensors, projectors, or tools. The RTA uses a modular bolt and t-slot system for mounting. These quick connectors leaves your component layout as flexible as possible, while still letting you add, remove, or reposition components as necessary.