About the Podcast
Conversations at the Intersection of Innovation and Safety
The Safety Third: Autonomous Revolution podcast explores how new technologies move from idea to real-world application, and where safety fits along the way. Guests share the challenges, decisions, and lessons behind their work across robotics, AI, autonomous systems, cybersecurity, functional safety, certification, and other emerging fields.
Why “Safety Third”?
The name comes from a simple way of thinking about innovation. First, can we technically solve the problem? Second, can we build a viable business around solving it? And third, can we do it safely? In practice, safety often does come third, and this show exists to make sure it’s never skipped.
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Browse 60+ episodes covering industrial automation, drones, medical devices, cybersecurity, functional safety, and more.
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Our Latest Episode
Welcome to our podcast dedicated to the intersection of innovation and safety. Join us as we engage with subject matter experts across various industries, exploring the pivotal query of ensuring safety innovation. We delve into conversations with safety industry experts to glean diverse perspectives, invaluable experiences, and groundbreaking concepts in the realm of safe innovation. Your host, Erik Reynolds, guides these discussions, offering a platform for insightful dialogue and strategic insights.
Mark Nehrkorn, Senior Director of Functional Safety & Compliance at Symbotic, joins Erik Reynolds to talk about why certified parts don't guarantee a certified system. Over more than 30 years in machine safety, Mark has worked at Boston Dynamics and SICK. Today he leads the team keeping Symbotic's robotic warehouse systems safe.
Every certified component arrives with its own conditions for use, and Erik points out that the more components a system combines, the more likely those conditions are to conflict. Mark explains when an off-the-shelf certified part makes sense, and when building thousands of robots makes it smarter to design your own.
Safety work doesn't stop at commissioning. Symbotic's robots each drive more than 50 miles a day, while electronic components can reach end of life in years or even months. Mark describes how losing access to a single part can send a newly certified system back to the start. It's part of why he sees the traditional 20-year mission time as less relevant than it used to be.
Mark Nehrkorn is also speaking at the R&M Physical AI & Safety Summit on October 13 at MassRobotics in Boston.
Register for the Summit: https://reynolds-moore.com/events/rm-physical-ai-safety-summit/
More on Symbotic: https://www.symbotic.com/
Check out our work: https://reynolds-moore.com/
Meet the Host
A serial founder, Erik is the Founder and Chairman of Reynolds & Moore and SafetyCert.AI, and co-founder of Fennec Engineering. Drawing on a career in product safety, testing, and certification, he hosts Safety Third: Autonomous Revolution, leading discussions on risk, engineering, leadership, and what it takes to move technology forward safely.
Welcome to our podcast dedicated to the intersection of innovation and safety. Join us as we engage with subject matter experts across various industries, exploring the pivotal query of ensuring safety innovation. We delve into conversations with safety industry experts to glean diverse perspectives, invaluable experiences, and groundbreaking concepts in the realm of safe innovation. Your host, Erik Reynolds, guides these discussions, offering a platform for insightful dialogue and strategic insights.
Mark Nehrkorn, Senior Director of Functional Safety & Compliance at Symbotic, joins Erik Reynolds to talk about why certified parts don't guarantee a certified system. Over more than 30 years in machine safety, Mark has worked at Boston Dynamics and SICK. Today he leads the team keeping Symbotic's robotic warehouse systems safe.
Every certified component arrives with its own conditions for use, and Erik points out that the more components a system combines, the more likely those conditions are to conflict. Mark explains when an off-the-shelf certified part makes sense, and when building thousands of robots makes it smarter to design your own.
Safety work doesn't stop at commissioning. Symbotic's robots each drive more than 50 miles a day, while electronic components can reach end of life in years or even months. Mark describes how losing access to a single part can send a newly certified system back to the start. It's part of why he sees the traditional 20-year mission time as less relevant than it used to be.
Mark Nehrkorn is also speaking at the R&M Physical AI & Safety Summit on October 13 at MassRobotics in Boston.
Register for the Summit: https://reynolds-moore.com/events/rm-physical-ai-safety-summit/
More on Symbotic: https://www.symbotic.com/
Check out our work: https://reynolds-moore.com/
Interested in Being a Guest?
Have experience in emerging technology, innovation, or a field shaping the future? Tell us why you’d like to join Safety Third: Autonomous Revolution.
