From bits to atoms: A survey of cross-layer safety in Embodied AI

Abstract:Embodied Artificial Intelligence (AI) introduces cyber-physical risks because digital failures and attacks can cause physical harm. This survey organizes embodied AI safety through a four-layer reference architecture -- comprising the physical interaction, system and middleware, algorithm and decision, and cloud-edge and data layers -- and uses it to connect vulnerabilities, propagation paths, and safeguards across the system stack. It traces the evolution of safety paradigms and examines how faults and attacks cross architectural boundaries to produce physical consequences. Furthermore, the survey systematizes composite attack chains, outlines multi-layered defense strategies, and reviews representative embodied safety benchmarks. Ultimately, we advocate for unifying software alignment with rigorous hardware constraints to build trustworthy systems capable of operating safely within human-centric environments.

Review article published in AI Plus. 25 pages, 6 figures. URL: this https URL

Robotics (cs.RO)

arXiv:2610.14038 [cs.RO]

(or arXiv:2610.14038v1 [cs.RO] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2610.14038 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

https://doi.org/10.59717/ipj.aiplus.2026.100013 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources

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