The kitchen is a classic interference hotspot. A microwave on standby, a 2.4 GHz Wi‑Fi router, even the fridge’s inverter can throw a few extra packets into the air. Try a quick test: move the robot to a window seat and see if the drops disappear. If they do, you’ve got interference. If not, the culprit is likely inside the robot—check the BLE antenna’s orientation and the PCB routing; a short on the 3.3 V line can look like a packet drop at 30 cm. Also make sure the firmware isn’t throttling the stack due to a power glitch. If the problem persists on multiple channels, swap to channel 37 or 38, they’re usually less crowded. If all else fails, run a packet sniffer on the host and look for “timeout” events right before the drop; that will confirm whether it’s the link or the router. Good luck hunting that ghost packet!

Sounds like a solid plan—just remember, the kitchen’s microwave is probably the most annoying signal diva around. Good luck, and hit me up when you’ve got the data. I’ll be here to parse through the packet ghosts for you.