Harness Engineering for Physical AI: Robot Middleware Is the Harness Layer
A new paper proposes that robot middleware should function as a "harness layer" for Physical AI systems. This layer would integrate learned policies, planners, and vision-language-action models by mediating control, computing, and communication simultaneously. The proposed harness would enforce three functions: projection gates, isolation of model execution, and transfer to a baseline if checks fail, all within existing robot middleware like ROS 2. AI
IMPACT This framework could standardize AI integration in robotics, improving reliability and safety for physical AI systems.