AI systems
Functional safety of AI-enabled machines
Safety lifecycle methods applied when learned components influence machine behaviour.
We design and support.
IEC 61508 · ISO 13849-1 · ISO/IEC TR 5469
Physical AI in the lab: a robot learning to inspect a cabinet, within a fenced test cell. The loop, step by step: 1. A rover and a robot in a test cage. 2. A box is placed in the rover’s path. 3. The rover’s camera sees and ranges it. 4. Each reading is stamped with time and place. 5. Frames reach the cabin’s edge. 6. The relay forwards sealed packets untouched. 7. The edge verifies every signature first. 8. The policy plans a path around it. 9. Only a confirmed result leaves the edge. 10. The rover steers clear and carries on. 11. Instruments confirm the response took effect. 12. The run is scored and filed. 13. The alert arrives with its evidence attached. 14. Record, proof and action are archived together. 15. Everything settles back to idle.
01 / 15
A rover and a robot in a test cage
Nexus Observatory/
Frontier labs/
Physical AIDrones and robots, inside published red lines.
Physical AI, inside Frontier labs: functional safety of AI-enabled machines, simulation and sim-to-real transfer, embodied foundation models, red lines: no weapons, targeting or unlawful tracking. Every item is traced to its specification, from IEC 61508 to ISO 13849-1, and runs on the open Observatory Protocol.
Plan with usArchitectureThe protocol- Technologies
- 4
- At the frontier
- 2
- Protocol functions
- 3 of 12
- Industries served
- 3
01What it is
Physical AI and robotics (within red lines).
AI from model to accountable operation: edge inference and model optimisation, foundation models for Earth observation and geospatial work, time-series and sensor AI, multimodal fusion and supervised agentic operations, federated and privacy-preserving learning, physical AI and robotics within stated red lines, MLOps, evaluation and model risk, and the governance frameworks that apply to each. Each technology below carries what it is, what we do with it, and the standard it is drawn against.
Frontier · AI systems
Simulation and sim-to-real transfer
Training and testing robot behaviour in simulation, then validating on real hardware.
We design and integrate.
ISO/IEC 30173 (digital twin concepts)
Frontier · AI systems
Embodied foundation models
Large models that map perception and instructions to robot actions, an active research area.
We design.
ISO/IEC TR 5469
AI systems
Red lines: no weapons, targeting or unlawful tracking
Physical AI work excludes weapons, target selection and tracking of people without lawful authority and consent.
We design and operate.
OECD AI Principles · UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
02Architecture
Where it sits, and what it speaks.
Physical AI draws on the spectrum below; the highlighted layers carry this area, and the protocol functions it speaks are marked.
Edge inference, model serving and optimisation
10
Foundation models for Earth observation and geospatial
9
Time-series and sensor AI
8
Multimodal fusion and agentic operations
7
Federated and privacy-preserving learning
7
Physical AI and robotics (within red lines)
7
MLOps
7
Evaluation, model risk and AI governance
10
O-RAN architecture and open interfaces
7
Fronthaul (7.2x split) and transport
8
RAN intelligent controllers, xApps and rApps
8
SMO, O-Cloud and accelerated L1
8
AI-RAN: shared accelerated infrastructure
7
AI/ML in the air interface and network management
8
Energy saving and efficiency
6
Testing, integration and security
8
01Join Identity, attestation quote, signed policy.
02Admit Admitted for a stated scope, nothing wider.
03Describe What, where, how and by whom, with calibration.
04Time One clock across the grid, with its error bound.
05Observe Every value with quality and provenance.
06Qualify Tested against the specification, state on record.
07Federate Signed exchange across grids and trust domains.
08Orchestrate Software and configuration by signed plan.
09Correct A correction marks what depends on it and publishes a new version.
10Exchange Products reach people and applications through versioned interfaces.
11Prove Signed proof receipts that an independent verifier can check.
12Exit and decommission An open exit path, and a record that closes.
03On the grid
Every site joins one observing grid.
The open networks on the grid today, over real relief and the geodesic cells we count them into, filtered to the space domain this area serves. A site built here enrols into the same grid.
The observing grid
- Open space instruments on the observing grid.
04In the field
Where this runs, sector by sector.
Deployment scenarios from the sector research that rely on physical AI.
ScientificResearch-infrastructure gap-filling nodes
Observatory-as-a-service for research infrastructures that must extend coverage under their own quality rules.TransportNon-federal automated weather observing for small airports
Aviation-grade stations under the civil-aviation authority's advisory circular; pricing not researched.Defence-adjacent (civil dual-use)Research and development route through the defence science programme
A science-and-technology programme on all-domain situational awareness.05Open and enterprise
Open by default. Enterprise by contract.
The open counterpart lives on the main site for anyone to read and run. The enterprise service is designed, deployed and operated with you, under contract.
Open, on the main site
- Benchmark methods
- Pilot reports, published either way
Enterprise, on this site
- Research pilots
- Prototype engineering
06The rest of the line
Frontier labs, area by area.
Frontier labsPilots
New technology, a real site, a written plan.Frontier labsBenchmarks
Open data, one method, comparable results.Frontier labsAI-RAN and 6G
Sensing and communication on shared compute.Frontier labsSpace and NTN
Direct-to-device and new payloads, tested.Frontier labsInto the product
From a result to a qualified release.Bring us the site.
Survey, design, deployment and operation for physical AI. The form names who receives your details.
Talk to usAsk for a quoteMore presentations
See it from every side.
Each opens as a full-screen presentation: deeper pages on the same subject, explainers, stories, guided tours of the places, network scenes and the observatories that came before.
All presentations for this page