lifecycle · provenance · custody
A serial number tells you what a robot was when it left the factory. A RIN can tell you what happened after.
Ownership transfers. Repairs. Software updates. Configuration changes. Inspections. Incidents. Recalls. Restrictions. Insurance status. Decommissioning.
One persistent identity. One lifecycle record.
Robots are software-defined physical assets. Their risk, capabilities and condition can change dramatically over time. The RIN Lifecycle Record creates a persistent history connecting the physical machine to the events, people, organizations, software and configurations that shaped its operational life.
The RIN remains associated with the robot throughout its lifecycle. It does not change when the robot is sold, leased, reassigned, refurbished, re-flashed or suspended.
Ownership, custody and operational responsibility can each change without changing the robot's identity — legal owner, possessor, operator and service custody are tracked separately.
Repairs, component replacements, hardware modifications, software and model updates, and autonomy changes are associated with the RIN.
Incidents, near misses, recalls, restrictions, inspections and remediation become part of the lifecycle record.
Lifecycle events carry authenticated source information, attestations, signatures, configuration hashes and evidence references — not just claims.
Not all records should be public. RIN supports distinct access levels for the public, owners, operators, OEMs, insurers, facilities, regulators and investigators.
A robot can be owned by one company, leased to another, operated by a fleet manager, and temporarily held by a service provider — all at once. Those relationships are recorded as chain of custody, not as new identities. A robot with a problematic operational history cannot erase that history by changing owners, operators, fleets or labels.
The RIN Clearinghouse verifies provenance, integrity, metadata, cryptographic hashes and references — the material needed to trust the record. It is not a warehouse for every video, sensor file or proprietary software package. Sensitive underlying evidence stays with the party that holds it and is released under permission.
The identity transfers. The history does not reset.
Lifecycle Provenance and Chain of Custody are not a separate layer. They are cross-layer capabilities expressed through layers the protocol already defines.
The persistent RIN that every record attaches to.
Hardware, software, model and autonomy state over time.
Who is accountable, and under which rules.
Device identity, signed updates, patches and compromises.
The chronological, verifiable history of meaningful events.
What the public can see, and what stays permissioned.