Robotics evidence guide · automated editorial preparation, not expert review

Distinguish requesting a handoff from completing one

A handoff has separate request, acknowledgement and observed-transfer stages. Software acknowledgement alone does not establish that a person received the object or responsibility.

Evidence and interpretation

Maha proposes an evidence description for handoffs, using the AI risk framework only as broad lifecycle context. First specify what transfers: an object, a task, or supervisory responsibility. These are different events. Record how each endpoint is observed, which party can decline, and what remains uncertain. A completed physical transfer does not itself show comfort, accessibility or agreement; those require their own appropriately designed observations.

Proposed evidence workflow

  1. Name the object or responsibility and define an observable completion condition.
  2. Record request, acknowledgement, refusal and observed outcome separately.
  3. Preserve ambiguous or interrupted transfers rather than inferring completion from the last command.

Worked illustration

A robot reports that it opened its gripper after an acknowledgement. Without an observation of receipt, the proposed packet records commanded release, not successful delivery to a person. The missing evidence must not be supplied by a confident narrative.

Limits

No safe handover trajectory, force limit or human-subject validation is provided. The example does not operate a robot.

Sources and review

NIST AI Risk Management Framework

Locator: Overview of the AI RMF

The framework is voluntary and addresses risk considerations across AI design, development, use and evaluation.

Boundary: This overview does not determine applicable law, certify robots or validate Maha workflows.

Inspection and reuse basis

Selected sections inspected 2026-09-15. Original explanation and link only; no framework text redistributed. This is not independent expert review of this article.

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