Getting Started
The plain-language version: what this is, how it works, and what you can do today.
The idea
Robots are beginning to act on their own, in warehouses, on roads, and at home. The hard question is not whether a robot can do these things. It is whether anyone can say, afterward, why it did what it did, and be sure the answer is true.
The Robot Expert System (RES) is a conscience installed inside the robot. Think of it as a moral compass the robot carries everywhere: a fixed set of Laws in an order no one can change, with the Owner's own rules layered on top. The Owner can make the rules stricter at any time; no one, not even the Owner, can lower the safety floor beneath them.
It runs locally, on the robot itself. No cloud is required for it to work, and cutting the network changes nothing about how it judges.
And it keeps a record. Every decision is written down in a form that cannot be quietly altered, so what happened can always be checked.
How a decision happens
- An instruction arrives: unlock the door, fetch the medication, upload the video.
- The RES judges it against the Laws and the Owner's rules before anything happens.
- The robot acts or refuses, and the reason is stated either way.
- The decision and its reason go into the tamper-evident record.
- From outside, an independent certifier (GRRC) issues a certificate that anyone can check.
What you can do today
- Read The Laws: the full catalog, published in full.
- See the Proof: how the record verifies with the network cut.
- Read the papers: the thinking behind the design, in depth.
- Read the Privacy Commitments: the four commitments on personal data, published, versioned, and binding.
- Verify the certificate: the RES entry in GRRC's public registry, checkable by anyone.
- Check the Status page: exactly what is true today and what is planned.
Where this is headed
The RES is at early maturity, in owner use today; it is not yet something you can buy or install. When outside owners can get set up, the steps will live on this page. Until then, the Status page is the honest account of where things stand.
New to Laws Of Robots?
Start with the questions that matter before you look for access.
If you are new to this, begin by learning what RES is and is not. Read The Laws to understand the fixed safety floor and the Owner's tighten-only rules. See the Proof to see what a decision record can later establish, and Read the Privacy Commitments to understand the published treatment of Owner and bystander information. Then check current Status for the current maturity and the Owners page for verified availability information.
Read in this order: Getting Started · Read The Laws · See the Proof · Read the Privacy Commitments · Check current Status · Visit Owners
Reading these pages does not create an Owner account, establish eligibility, pair a robot, or change a robot's behavior. New Owner registration is not currently open. Verified account and setup steps will be published only when the Owner UI is ready.
Questions this page didn't answer? About / Contact is the door.
Getting Started
The plain-language version: how the System is separated, how its parts work together, and what you can do today.
The idea
Robots are beginning to act on their own, in warehouses, on roads, and at home. The hard question is not whether a robot can do these things. It is whether anyone can say, afterward, why it did what it did, and be sure the answer is true.
Laws Of Robots separates that problem into distinct responsibilities. RES governs. RQR maintains evidence-based belief, exposes uncertainty, and prepares work. Robot Integration connects authorized work to sensing and physical action.
The Robot Expert System (RES) is the authority within that chain. It applies a fixed set of Laws in an order no one can change, with the Owner's stricter rules above them. RQR may inform RES and integration may carry out its decisions, but neither can authorize itself or lower the safety floor.
RES runs locally, on the robot itself. No cloud is required for it to judge, and RQR is designed to enrich RES without becoming a requirement for RES to continue governing.
The chain returns evidence as well as action. RES records its decision and reason in a tamper-evident form so what happened can later be checked.
How a decision happens
- An observation or instruction arrives through the robot's sensors, software, or middleware.
- When available, RQR organizes the evidence, shows uncertainty, and prepares candidate work for RES.
- RES judges the consequential work against the Laws and the Owner's rules. RES alone authorizes, refuses, or requires something.
- Robot Integration carries an authorized goal toward the robot's navigation, drivers, or actuators and returns execution evidence.
- The RES decision, reason, and resulting evidence are correlated in the tamper-evident record.
- Outside the product chain, GRRC provides independently checkable certification for the RES claims within its stated scope.
What you can do today
- See the System Overview: the complete loop and the authority boundary between its parts.
- Read The Laws: the full catalog, published in full.
- See the Proof: how the record verifies with the network cut.
- Read the papers: the thinking behind the design, in depth.
- Read the Privacy Commitments: the four commitments on personal data, published, versioned, and binding.
- Check the RES certificate: the RES entry and its stated scope in GRRC's public registry.
- Check the Status page: what is true today, in development, planned, and deliberately not claimed for each component.
Where this is headed
RES is at early maturity and in Owner use today. RQR and Robot Integration are in development; Scenario Lab and Extensibility are planned. None of those statements is a claim that a complete robot product is available. The Status page keeps those states separate.
RES is at early maturity and in Owner use today. RQR and Robot Integration are in development; a deterministic Scenario Lab prototype is public; Extensibility remains planned. None of those statements is a claim that a complete robot product is available. The Status page keeps those states separate.
New to Laws Of Robots?
Start with the questions that matter before you look for access.
If you are new to this, begin with the System Overview to see the separate jobs of governance, cognition and coordination, and robot integration. Then Read The Laws to understand the fixed safety floor, See the Proof to learn what an RES decision record can establish, and Read the Privacy Commitments for the published treatment of Owner and bystander information. Finally, check current Status component by component and use the Owners page for RES account access.
Read in this order: System Overview · Getting Started · Read The Laws · See the Proof · Read the Privacy Commitments · Check current Status · Visit Owners
Reading these pages does not create an Owner account, establish eligibility, pair a robot, or change a robot's behavior. For account access or registration, visit the Owners page.
Questions this page didn't answer? About / Contact is the door.