Functional safety research, in the form the academy expects.
Every two weeks, a Field Notes thread is deepened with academic sources and rendered as an IEEE-format paper. PDFs are downloadable; the inline viewer below mirrors the two-column layout. Citations follow IEEE numeric style.
Volume 01
Corroboration Is Not Authentication: Bounding the Receiver-Side Integrity Assurance Available to Unauthenticatable Cooperative Datalinks in Aviation and Maritime Transport
A framework that treats receiver-side plausibility checking as an allocatable safety mechanism with a measurable coverage ceiling. Five relations show that against an adaptive adversary only channels outside the attacker’s write authority contribute assurance, and only if their verdict precedes irreversible commitment. Demonstrated on CISA ICSA-26-219-01 (CPDLC over ATN-B1) and ICSA-26-237-07 (FURUNO FA-50 AIS), both of which close with no mitigation available.
Read paperWhen Every Recall Has a New Root Cause: A Mechanism-Novelty Estimator for Requirement-Level Recurrence in Automotive Safety Compliance
A framework that reads a requirement's recurrence record as one verification signal rather than a series of defect signals. Good-Turing missing mass and a bias-corrected Chao bound separate novelty-dominated recurrence, which indicts verification coverage, from repeat-dominated recurrence, which indicts corrective-action effectiveness. Demonstrated on Ford's five-action FMVSS 111 series.
Read paperDetection Is Not a Device Property: A Sensing-Envelope and Responder-Conditioned Framework for Risk-Control Verification in Life-Sustaining Medical Devices
A six-step framework that bounds the detectability of a credited ISO 14971 risk control by the device's physical sensing envelope, and bounds the efficacy of a life-withholding safe state by the availability of an external responder. Demonstrated on the July 2026 Omnipod cannula-tear Class I recall, where an open-path leak moves the pressure surrogate toward the healthy reading, and the ResMed Astral Early Alert, where the fail-safe state stops life-support ventilation.
Read paperWhen the Credited Mechanism Is Off Duty: A State-Indexed Availability Framework for Safety-Mechanism Claims in ISO 26262 Safety Cases
A six-step framework that indexes every credited ISO 26262 safety mechanism by vehicle operating state, exposing availability gaps where the hazard is active but the mechanism is asleep, absent, or unpowered. Demonstrated on the 2026 Ford park-by-wire rollaway recall (26V402), whose EPB rollaway detection may sleep with the PCM, and the Volkswagen ID.4 recall (26V030), whose Self-Discharge Detection was never installed.
Read paperBounding the Latent-Failure Exposure of Defeated Monitors: A Quantitative Certification-Maintenance-Requirement Framework for Dormant Protective Functions in Transport-Category Aircraft
A six-step framework that turns airworthiness-directive evidence of defeated dormant monitors into a derived Certification Maintenance Requirement interval plus independence and non-perturbation requirements. Demonstrated on the 2026 Boeing 737NG thrust-reverser lock-indication AD and the ATR 42 flap-asymmetry detector AD, showing that when a maintenance-defeat term dominates, no achievable inspection interval restores the 14 CFR 25.1309 budget.
Read paperFrom Public-Demo Incident to Bystander-Safety Contract: A Cross-Standards Framework for Speed-and-Separation and Power-and-Force Requirement Derivation in Untethered Humanoid Robots
A six-step cross-standards framework that translates 2026 public humanoid-robot contact incidents — most prominently the Unitree G1 roundhouse-kick strike on a child in Urumqi — into ISO/TS 15066 power-and-force limits, ISO 13855 separation distances, and ISO 10218-2 / ISO 13849-1 PL d protective-stop requirements, with two equations, a fault tree, and five derived requirements.
Read paperFrom Vendor SBOM Gap to SIS Independence Violation: A Cross-Standards Framework for Translating OT Cybersecurity Field Evidence into IEC 62443-4-1, IEC 62443-3-3, and IEC 61511 Requirements
A six-step cross-standards framework that translates two 2026 OT cybersecurity field events — the Siemens SENTRON 7KT request-smuggling defect (CVE-2025-22871, CISA ICSA-26-134-14) and the CyberAv3ngers PLC compromise campaign (CISA AA26-097A) — into IEC 62443-4-1 secure-development residuals, IEC 62443-3-3 zone-and-conduit controls, and IEC 61511 safety-instrumented-system independence requirements.
Read paperFrom Functional Insufficiency to Behavior-Policy Gate: A Cross-Standards Framework for ODD Boundary Enforcement in Level-4 Robotaxis under Degraded Environmental Conditions
A six-step cross-standards framework that translates degraded-environment perception evidence into ISO 21448 triggering conditions, UL 4600 claim-based gates, and ISO 26262 minimal-risk-condition contracts for SAE Level-4 robotaxis. Demonstrated on the May 2026 Waymo San Antonio flood-traversal recall and the March 2026 NHTSA EA26002 escalation of Tesla Full Self-Driving in reduced-visibility crashes.
Read paperReframing Latent Software Anomalies in Class C Infusion Pumps: A Cross-Standards Framework Bridging IEC 62304, ISO 14971, and IEC 60601-1-8
A six-step cross-standards framework that translates two latent software anomalies — silent battery-state misreporting and a numeric-input fail-stop — into IEC 62304 unit-verification residuals, ISO 14971 risk-control measures, and IEC 60601-1-8 alarm-conformance assertions. Demonstrated on the February 2026 Fresenius Kabi Ivenix LVP Class I recall, with a corrected severity argued to be Catastrophic.
Read paperHazard Assessment for Autonomous eVTOL Perception in Degraded Visual Environments: A Cross-Standards Framework Bridging ARP4761A, DO-178C/254, and Automotive ADAS Field Evidence
A six-step cross-standards framework that translates perception-availability evidence into ARP4761A FHA, FDAL/IDAL, and ASTM F3269-21 Run-Time Assurance artifacts for SC-VTOL-01 Category Enhanced eVTOL. Demonstrated on the NHTSA EA26002 escalation of automotive Full Self-Driving in degraded visual environments and the NTSB Joby JAS4-2 final report.
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