Welcome Back!
AI tools are evolving every day, and our weekly review covers the tools to keep your business a step ahead
This week the AI isn't in an app on your phone. It's built into the tool itself: a headset on the hard hat, a thermal camera in the electrical room, and a robot on the concrete floor. We haven't tested any of these three, so everything below comes from the makers' public pages.
When you're on a ladder with both hands full and the one tech who knows this unit is across town
Image Not Available from RealWear
Pain It Targets
Hands full on a ladder or in a tight mechanical room, with the phone stuck in a pocket
A tech gets stuck on a fix and the senior tech can't see what they're looking at over the phone
Stuck jobs turn into a second trip because nobody could walk the tech through it on the spot
What the Navigator 520 Does
A rugged headset that clips to a hard hat and runs by voice, built for dust, water, drops, and loud rooms (four noise-canceling microphones)
Ari, RealWear's voice assistant, came to the Navigator 520 in an over-the-air update dated September 17, 2026; you agree to Ari's terms during setup to turn it on
Ari answers spoken questions and works with email, calendar, contacts, and Microsoft Teams, so a tech can read and reply without taking gloves off
Remote help is the big job-site use: a Teams call from the headset lets a senior tech or factory rep see what the tech sees, and RealWear's pricing page says an outside expert can join from a browser with a code, with nothing to install
Works with safety glasses, prescription glasses, and hearing protection, and takes an optional FLIR thermal camera module in place of the regular camera
Rough Public Pricing (always confirm directly with the site)
Headset: $3,150 on RealWear's official store
Ari software is priced per device: Core is free, Pro is $9.90/device/mo, Ultra is $19.90/device/mo
The free Core plan includes Ari on the glasses, phone, and browser, with a monthly usage allowance; Pro and Ultra raise the allowance and add fleet controls
No free trial or loaner headset listed
Honest Caveat
Based on public info, not tested by us
$3,150 per headset is a real spend for a small shop, before any software plan
Ari is a general assistant: it doesn't come loaded with HVAC or electrical know-how
Ari only reached the Navigator 520 in the September 2026 update, so it's new on this headset
RealWear's store page still lists Android 13 while the update notes say Android 16, so ask which version ships in the box
The remote help only pays off if someone on your team is ready to take those calls
15 Minutes to Keep It or Leave It
The headset has no free trial, but the assistant does. Sign up for the free Core plan at ari-os.com and use Ari Chat in your browser: ask it three questions your techs ask on a typical service call and see if the answers help. Then count how many times last month a tech called a senior tech for a walk-through. If that happens every week and your shop already runs on Microsoft Teams, ask a RealWear reseller for a demo headset; keep it. If the calls are rare, leave it.
Try it: RealWear Navigator 520
FLIR i34 with IRMA · Commercial
When the thermal camera only gets used by the one tech who knows how to read it
Image Not Available from FLIR
Pain It Targets
Newer techs unsure which camera settings to use or how to read what's on the screen
Two techs scan the same panel and come back with different calls
Thermal photos that never make it into a report or back to the asset record
What the i34 Does
A handheld thermal camera (240 by 320 resolution) that runs apps like a smartphone, on FLIR's app platform
IRMA is FLIR's AI assistant for the camera, found in the onboard FLIR App Store; FLIR calls it a FLIR-trained assistant specialized for thermography and FLIR products, giving camera-aware guidance in the field
Guided inspection routes, on-camera fault detection, and side-by-side comparison against a baseline image
Runs Microsoft Teams and Outlook on the camera, so a remote expert can see the live image
Third-party apps add more AI: FLIR's app gallery says MentorAPM evaluates thermal and visual conditions and recommends actions, and Styra Pro flags issues early
FLIR lists electrical inspection, mechanical inspection, and building diagnostics as top uses
Rough Public Pricing (always confirm directly with the site)
i34: $4,999 on FLIR's official product page
No separate price listed for IRMA, and we couldn't confirm whether it costs extra
FLIR's own Assetlink and Ignite apps need their own accounts, and third-party apps may need their own subscriptions
No free trial or loaner program found
Honest Caveat
Based on public info, not tested by us
$4,999 is a lot more than a basic thermal camera
IRMA explains thermography and the camera; it doesn't diagnose the equipment for you, and reading the image is still on the tech
We couldn't find a FLIR announcement with a launch date for IRMA
Much of the deeper AI analysis comes from paid third-party apps, not the camera itself
15 Minutes to Keep It or Leave It
No public trial, so your 15 minutes is homework. Pull last month's thermal scans and check who took them. If only one or two techs ever pick up the camera, or two techs read the same gear differently, ask FLIR or a distributor for a demo and have IRMA answer the questions your newer techs actually ask; keep it. If one experienced tech handles every scan and your reports are already clean, leave it.
Try it: FLIR i34
DEWALT DALE Drilling Robot · Commercial
When the floor plan calls for thousands of anchor holes and the schedule doesn't have room for a crew on rotary hammers
Image Not Available from DEWALT
Pain It Targets
Crews drilling thousands of anchor holes into concrete floors by hand on big jobs
Vibration and silica dust exposure for whoever is running the hammer drill
Drilling falls behind and holds up the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing install that follows
What DALE Does
An autonomous robot that drills down into concrete floors for server rack stops and supports for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, built with August Robotics
Uses layout points from your design models, drills through rebar in a rebar mode, and has built-in dust extraction
Several robots can run as a fleet, with fast-swap batteries and remote monitoring for around-the-clock drilling
DEWALT says the robot has "AI-enhanced quality assurance" so the floor is ready for the trades as soon as drilling is done
Launched for commercial order July 9, 2026, and named to TIME's Best Inventions of 2026 on October 16
Rough Public Pricing (always confirm directly with the site)
No public price: DEWALT's page says to contact a DEWALT representative about leasing
August Robotics also has a quote form on its site
No trial, rental listing, or demo program posted
Honest Caveat
Based on public info, not tested by us
Built for data center construction, so it fits large commercial jobs, not small service shops
The speed and accuracy figures (up to 10 times faster than traditional drilling, over 99% accuracy on more than 385,000 holes) are DEWALT's own numbers from live data center jobsites
DEWALT doesn't explain what the AI quality check actually does
It only drills down into floors, so walls and overhead work still need a crew
15 Minutes to Keep It or Leave It
No public trial, so your 15 minutes is homework. Take your next big floor with anchor layout, count the holes, and add up the crew hours you planned for drilling. If it's thousands of holes on a tight schedule, ask your DEWALT rep for a lease quote and compare it against those crew hours; keep it. If it's a few hundred holes, leave it.
Try it: DEWALT DALE
Tool We Passed On
Meta Ray-Ban Display · Commercial/Residential: $799 smart glasses with Meta AI on a small in-lens screen, but Meta's own safety guide says they "must not be used as safety glasses or protection against mechanical impact," so they don't work on any site that requires safety eyewear
How We Operate
Keep issues short so you can read them between calls
We personally test every tool we can, and we'll always note the ones we couldn't
Some links may earn us a commission, and we'll always label them clearly
Got a Tool That Actually Helped on the Job?
Reply to this email with three lines:
Tool name
What you used it for
What changed (time saved, fewer callbacks, cleaner handoff, and so on)
Best replies may show up in a future issue (first name and trade only).
See you next week!
Trade AI Brief
Browse past issues: tradeaibrief.com