Auto repair shops and car washes: get paid to record your techs' work

Can my auto shop get paid to record our work?

Yes. Through Amelia Robotics' business program, your techs record jobs they already do with a phone mounted to show their view and hands. Amelia pays your shop once a month for approved recordings. Typical pay is $500 to $2,000 a month per recording employee, assuming 12.5 to 50 approved hours a week over four weeks; Amelia says earnings vary and the agreement decides actual pay.

Bays run on repeat jobs, which suits recording: a tech doing ten oil changes a day produces a lot of consistent footage. The physical AI hub explains the program end to end.

Source: Amelia Robotics: business program (checked Nov 2026)

Which auto shop tasks count?

Amelia lists four auto examples. Note that it specifies shop-based work, so mobile repair at a customer's driveway is something to raise on the setup call rather than assume:

• Shop-based vehicle maintenance and repair: brakes, suspension, belts, fluids and diagnostics on the lift.
• Tire and oil changes: mounting, balancing, rotations, drain and fill.
• Car washing, by hand or alongside a tunnel.
• Interior vacuuming and buffing, including detailing work.

Source: Amelia Robotics: business program (checked Nov 2026)

How much could an auto shop earn from recordings?

At the typical rate of $10 per approved hour, the maths is people x approved hours a week x 4. The table is illustrative. Flat-rate techs care about billed hours, so recording has to fit around the work, not slow it down. A tech who loses time fiddling with a mount loses more in flag hours than the recording pays.

Amelia's example split is 50% to the worker, 10% to the lead and 40% to the business. Some shops may prefer a different split for detailers and techs; Amelia lets you set one per team.

What should an auto shop agree before recording?

Customer cars are full of personal information. A head camera under the hood is fine, but inside the cabin it can catch nav history, phone screens, mail and car seats. Plates and VINs identify owners. Add a line to the repair order saying the shop may record work for AI training with the camera on the work, and honour any customer who opts out.

For your own staff, get written agreement from each tech. Some states also set rules for watching staff electronically. Connecticut, for example, requires prior written notice to employees and counts cameras as electronic monitoring (Conn. Gen. Stat. sec. 31-48d). About 11 states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Washington, require everyone in a conversation to agree before it is recorded (Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press). Shops are noisy, but if the phone records sound, the front counter and customer conversations should stay out.

• Record under the hood, under the car and at the tire machine; skip the cabin unless the job is interior work.
• Keep plates, VINs, paperwork and customer faces out of frame.
• Secure the phone so it cannot drop into an engine bay or a spinning tire machine.
• Never record while moving cars through the shop or a wash tunnel.

Source: Connecticut General Statutes, chapter 557 (sec. 31-48d, electronic monitoring of employees)

Why do robotics companies want footage of auto work?

Car work is fine manipulation in awkward spaces: blind bolts, clips that break if forced, hoses that have to be worked off. Robots learn those motions from hands-in-frame video. A writer who recorded for this market told NPR the camera captures both hands because that is how robots interact with the world (NPR).

Washing and interior cleaning are also among the jobs robot developers want to learn, the same family of tasks DoorDash now pays couriers to film, according to TechCrunch (TechCrunch). For other companies paying for footage, see companies that pay to record work.

Source: NPR via KUNC: He filmed himself doing household tasks for AI robots (May 2026)

How does an auto shop get started?

Answer four questions to check you qualify, agree tasks and requirements on a setup call, get activated, then invite your techs. Prepare:

• Headcount by role (techs, lube techs, detailers) and their hands-on hours per week.
• Which bays and services you would record.
• Phones and head mounts. Amelia's setup guidance says the business buys one mount per person.
• Repair order wording for customer notice, and your split plan.

Next step

If you also run a wash, see what car wash owners make, and estimate your crew on the physical AI hub calculator.