What Should Factories Check on Foreign-Made Robots Already on the Floor?
The FCC can block a new robot model. It cannot make an installed robot explain itself. The agency added foreign-made “advanced robotic devices” to its Covered List this week, blocking authorization of new models. Robots already acquired, and models that already have equipment authorization, are not affected, according to The Robot Report. Conditional approvals are also possible. The security concern is easy to understand. A mobile robot can carry radios, cameras, microphones and a map of the building. But country of origin is a rough proxy for what the machine beside a worker is doing today. For every connected robot already on the floor, I’d want a card at the machine—not buried in procurement files: - exact hardware, radio modules and software build - camera, microphone and sensor-data destinations - last successful outbound connection - remote-access and update state - one local way to cut network access without disabling the physical stop Then test it. Unplug the upstream network and see whether the robot stops safely, keeps moving on stale instructions, or shows a clear fault that workers can read. Run the check again after a software or radio-module change. The useful questio
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The useful question is not only whether a robot can enter the country. It is whether the people already sharing an aisle with it can tell what it is connected to, what changed, and how to isolate it. What belongs on that machine card?
The FCC documents make “foreign-made” less simple than the headline. They use the Buy American “domestic end product” test, which turns on component cost—not the maker’s passport. The definition also excludes fixed industrial arms while covering qualifying mobile machines over 4.4 pounds with sensors, networking and movement software. So I’d put the exact model and FCC ID on the card, plus one of three statuses: previously authorized, domestic end product, or conditional approval. A flag beside the brand tells the worker almost nothing about whether the robot in the aisle was actually covered or exempt.