This glossary provides controlling statutory, regulatory, and technical definitions governing physical AI, autonomous systems, robotics, and uncrewed equipment under Texas and federal law. Each entry includes its legal anchor, scope, controlling authority, and contextual application.
Editorial Scope
Physical machines and systems that sense, act, or interact in the physical world. This editorial scope encompasses conventional industrial automation, remote manipulation, and teleoperation systems necessary to explain governing legal and safety frameworks.
Operational context: The site uses this term broadly across regulatory regimes without asserting a single universal statutory definition.
Editorial Scope
Artificial intelligence integrated into physical hardware systems that perceive, navigate, or act in physical environments.
Operational context: Serves as an organizing editorial concept covering embodied software models, automated driving stacks, and sensor fusion algorithms, rather than a single statutory term.
Texas Transportation Code § 545.451(1)
Hardware and software that are collectively capable of performing the entire dynamic driving task on a sustained basis, regardless of whether it is limited to a specific operational design domain.
Operational context: Specifically incorporates Level 3, Level 4, and Level 5 automated driving capabilities under SAE International standards.
Texas Transportation Code § 545.451(2)
A motor vehicle equipped with an automated driving system capable of Level 4 or Level 5 operation under Texas Transportation Code Chapter 545, Subchapter J.
Texas Transportation Code § 545.451(3)
The person granted commercial driverless authorization by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to Texas Transportation Code § 545.456.
Texas Transportation Code § 545.451(6)
All real-time operational and tactical functions required to operate a motor vehicle in on-road traffic.
Operational context: Excludes strategic functions such as trip routing, destination selection, and waypoint scheduling.
Texas Transportation Code § 545.451(7)
A natural person present inside an automated motor vehicle who controls all or part of the dynamic driving task.
Texas Transportation Code § 552A.0001(5)
An automated cargo device manufactured primarily for transporting property in pedestrian areas or roadside margins with remote human support and supervision.
Texas Transportation Code § 552A.0001(3)
An automated cargo device designed to transport property while remaining within 25 feet of a human operator equipped with active monitoring capability.
Texas Transportation Code § 552A.0001(4)
A sidewalk, crosswalk, school crossing zone, safety zone, or other pedestrian pathway designated under Texas transportation statutes.
Texas Transportation Code § 552A.0003
The business entity operating a personal delivery device for statutory traffic compliance, subject to specific exceptions for agents acting outside the scope of employment.
14 C.F.R. § 107.3
An aircraft operated without the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft.
14 C.F.R. § 107.3
An unmanned aircraft weighing less than 55 pounds at takeoff, including everything attached to or carried by the aircraft.
14 C.F.R. § 107.3
A small unmanned aircraft and its associated elements, including communication links and control components, necessary for safe flight operations in national airspace.
14 C.F.R. § 107.19
The designated remote pilot holding primary operational responsibility and final authority for the flight path and safety of a small unmanned aircraft operation under Part 107.
Texas Government Code § 423.0045(a)(1-a)
Specific listed industrial, energy, water treatment, chemical, or transport facilities protected against unauthorized low-altitude drone overflight, subject to statutory fencing and signage qualifications.
Texas Transportation Code § 547.615(a)(2), referenced by § 545.455(b)(2)
A manufacturer-installed feature that records or transmits vehicle telemetry, speed, or sensor data for retrieval following a collision.
Texas Government Code § 423.001
Any captured visual, thermal, sound wave, electromagnetic, or spatial representation recorded by an unmanned aircraft system.
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 82.001(4)
A person who designs, formulates, constructs, reconditions, fabricates, produces, compounds, processes, or assembles a product or component part placed into commerce.
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 82.001(3)
A person engaged in the business of distributing or placing a product, or component part, into the stream of commerce for use or consumption.
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 82.001(2)
Any civil action against a manufacturer or seller for recovery of damages arising out of personal injury, death, or property damage allegedly caused by a defective product.
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 82.005(b)
A product design that would have prevented or significantly reduced the risk of injury without substantially impairing utility, tested under economic and technological feasibility standards.
15 U.S.C. § 2052(a)(5)
Any article produced or distributed for sale to a consumer for use in or around a permanent or temporary household or school, subject to statutory exclusions.
21 U.S.C. § 360n-2(c)
A medical device that includes software, validated internet connectivity, and features susceptible to cybersecurity vulnerabilities under federal food and drug law.
Texas Business and Commerce Code § 551.001(1)
A machine-based system that infers, for explicit or implicit objectives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that influence physical or virtual environments.
Texas Business and Commerce Code § 552.001(1)
A person or commercial entity that deploys or uses an artificial intelligence system for operations within Texas under statutory guidelines.
Texas Business and Commerce Code § 541.001(19)
Any information that is linked or reasonably linkable to an identified or identifiable individual, excluding de-identified data or publicly available records.
Texas Business and Commerce Code § 541.001(29); see § 541.001(21) (precise geolocation data)
A category of personal data including processed biometric identifiers, data collected from a known child, or precise geolocation data within a radius of 1,750 feet.
Texas Business and Commerce Code § 503.001(a)(2)
"Biometric identifier" means a retina or iris scan, fingerprint, voiceprint, or record of hand or face geometry. Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 503.001(a).
Applicability note: CUBI's capture-or-collection restrictions apply to biometric identifiers captured for a commercial purpose, and the statute excludes voiceprint data retained by financial institutions and certain other categories. Whether a given sensor stream qualifies turns on the statutory text, not on this summary. See Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 503.001(b), (c).
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 134A.002(6)
Proprietary scientific, technical, or financial information that derives independent economic value from secrecy, provided reasonable security measures are maintained.
Texas Transportation Code § 545.451(8)
Conditional driving automation meeting SAE International Standard J3016 (April 2021 edition) where the system performs dynamic driving tasks with expected human intervention upon request.
Texas Transportation Code § 545.451(9)
High driving automation meeting SAE International Standard J3016 (April 2021 edition) where the system performs all dynamic driving tasks within its operational design domain without human intervention.
Texas Transportation Code § 545.451(10)
Full driving automation meeting SAE International Standard J3016 (April 2021 edition) where the system performs all dynamic driving tasks under all roadway and environmental conditions.
Texas Transportation Code § 545.451(11)
A stable and stopped condition brought about by an automated driving system to minimize crash risk when a trip cannot or should not continue.
Texas Transportation Code § 545.451(12)
The specific operating conditions under which an automated driving system or feature is engineered to function, including speed limits, environmental conditions, geographic limits, and time of day.
Texas Transportation Code § 545.454(a)
The automated driving system when engaged, treating the software system as the operator for statutory traffic compliance purposes.
Texas Transportation Code § 545.458(a), incorporating § 644.001
A heavy motor vehicle operated for commercial transportation, defined specifically for automated vehicle safety improvements under state law.
Texas Transportation Code § 644A.001(2)
Technology, hardware, software, or procedural practices deployed by a motor carrier to enhance fleet safety, subject to worker classification protections under § 644A.002.
Texas Occupations Code §§ 2402.001 and 2402.005
A corporation, partnership, or entity operating a digital network connecting passengers to ride services, including automated ride services operating without human drivers.
Texas Government Code § 423.0046(a)
An arena, stadium, or facility meeting statutory seating capacity and primary-use qualifications where unauthorized drone overflight is prohibited during scheduled events.
49 U.S.C. § 44801(12)
An unmanned aircraft and its associated elements required to operate safely and efficiently in the national airspace system, including communication links and the components that control the unmanned aircraft.
14 C.F.R. § 107.31
The operational requirement that a remote pilot or visual observer maintain direct, unassisted visual contact with an unmanned aircraft throughout flight.
47 U.S.C. § 1601; 47 C.F.R. § 1.50002(a)
The official list maintained by the Federal Communications Commission identifying communications equipment that poses an unacceptable risk to national security.
47 C.F.R. § 1.50001(d); 47 C.F.R. § 2.903(a)
Communications equipment or services identified on the FCC's Covered List as posing an unacceptable risk to national security. Under 47 C.F.R. § 2.903(a), covered equipment is barred from receiving FCC equipment authorization.
FCC Public Notice DA 26-786 (July 28, 2026), acting on the July 27, 2026 National Security Determination
A mechanical, ground-mobile device (for example an autonomous mobile robot, humanoid, or quadruped) operating at a distance from a human operator, weighing over 4.4 pounds including any dock, with a sensor, network connectivity of at least 200 kbps, and software controlling navigation, perception, data collection, or remote command, including firmware and model weights. Exclusions: connected vehicles, rail-only vehicles, unmanned aircraft systems, unmanned underwater vehicles, certain FDA-regulated devices, and fixed industrial or medical robots.
DA 26-786, incorporating Buy American standards under 48 C.F.R. § 25.101(a)
A device that does not qualify as a domestic end product under 48 C.F.R. § 25.101(a), regardless of the producer's nationality.
48 C.F.R. § 25.101(a)
An end product manufactured in the United States, with domestic components exceeding 65 percent of component cost for items delivered through 2028 and 75 percent from 2029 (the 60 percent threshold applied only to 2022 and 2023 deliveries; separate iron and steel test).
49 U.S.C. § 30102(a)
System hardware, software, sensors, or component parts integrated into or added to motor vehicles for operation, safety, or navigation.
Editorial Legal Classification Entry
The legal categorization process determining whether a physical AI system or component is evaluated as a product, service, medical device, vehicle, or aircraft under state and federal law.