diff --git a/bricks/special/robot-input.lua b/bricks/special/robot-input.lua
index d1bf8fa..a066443 100644
--- a/bricks/special/robot-input.lua
+++ b/bricks/special/robot-input.lua
@@ -7,9 +7,11 @@ local function intToPort(gate, port, len, v)
 end
 
 return function(gate, argv)
+	print(table.concat(argv, "|\n"))
 	print("robot input")
-	print("\""..argv[1].."\"")
-	for word in argv[1]:gmatch("[^\t]+") do
+	local arg = argv[1]:gsub("^ +", ""):gsub(" +$", "")
+	print("\""..arg.."\"")
+	for word in arg:gmatch("[^\t]+") do
 		local first, rest = word:sub(1, 1), word:sub(2, #word)
 		local vec = {}
 		for a in rest:gmatch("[^ ]+") do table.insert(vec, tonumber(a) or error("invalid number "..a)) end