Early trials can show that a system works under controlled conditions. Field reliability asks a harder question: can it keep working under imperfect sensing, tired operators, harsh weather, delayed logistics and communications that refuse to cooperate?
From script to sustainment
Reliability work includes diagnostics, maintainability, spare considerations, software update discipline and clear safe-state behaviour. A platform that cannot explain its health will not earn long-term operator trust.
Human factors
Operators need understandable modes, predictable handovers and alerts that do not drown signal in noise. Reliability is as much about the human interface as the control loop.
Staged validation
Move deliberately from controlled trials to representative environments. Capture failure modes, refine autonomy bounds, and treat successful trials as a starting point — not a finished capability.