Actuator, ROS stack, and radio — one engagement.

Most firms can test one layer of a robotics platform. This client needed all three tested by people who understood how they interact.

A robotics platform is three products pretending to be one: the mechanical system, the autonomy software, and the link between the operator and both. Split that across three vendors and the findings that matter — the ones that cross a boundary — go unreported.

Crossing the boundary

The most serious finding was not in any single layer. A motion command accepted over the radio was trusted by the middleware, which was trusted by the actuator controller. No layer validated it, because each assumed the layer above already had.

• DDS discovery reachable from the operator network segment.
• Motion commands accepted without an authenticated origin.
• Actuator firmware with no rate limit on commanded position changes.
• Radio link keys derived from a serial number printed on the chassis.