Technologies - The GeckoSavants™

Artificial intelligence is a very complex technological field to understand, let alone implement. A Mobile Service Robot (MSR) must possess the intelligence to not only navigate its surroundings and prevent itself from entering inescapable danger, it must also possess the intelligence to do meaningful work for its owners. In some cases, certain functions need to be overridden temporarily (eg. the MSR is given a command to proceed to a waypoint, but it must temporarily steer away to avoid obstacles). All of this intelligence has to be efficient so that it can operate at high speed, while still being easy to maintain and modify.

GeckoSavant is the generic name GeckoSystems uses to denote its advanced artificial intelligence (AI) software engines. Historically AI expert systems are simply forward- or backward-chaining using if/then/else logic. Savant means "one with specialized knowledge." GeckoSavants not only use traditional expert systems technologies, but also subsumption and sensor fusion. Further GeckoSavants range on a continuum from skill centric to knowledge centric.

It is quite a challenge, but GeckoSystems has come up with a solution in the form of its GeckoSavant™ architecture. Within this framework, each individual GeckoSavant™ is responsible for only one particular task, such as navigation or speech synthesis. Each GeckoSavant™ is optimized for its particular task, and does not worry about external factors. The GeckoSavants™ then communicate with each other via TCP/IP and exchange information.

In this manner, GeckoSystems and third party programmers can easily add and extend the functionality of the MSR by adding another GeckoSavant™ and rules for interaction with the data it outputs.

For more information on some of our GeckoSavants, please click on any individual GeckoSavant below.

Additional

GeckoSystems use multiple layers of sensors and sensor systems to achieve what some describe as "actionable situational awareness." For example, our CareBots™ are capable of powering down unnecessary systems to lengthen battery life while the care receiver sleeps, and then power back up automatically should she, for example get out of her bed in the middle of the night. The CareBot "watches over" the care receiver using a scientifically developed fusion of sonar, active infrared, passive infrared, etc. to enable the CareBot to be aware of the care receiver's movements such that GeckoTrak™ can guide GeckoNav™ to stay proximate to grandma such that GeckoChat™ can have verbal interaction with her. The GeckoSuper™ then determines whether and/or when to automatically notify the caregiver that grandma is "up and about at 2:30A" and may need the care giver to look in personally, either over the video camera, or with a physical visit.

A multitude of necessary and synergistic technologies have been created by GeckoSystems to achieve this world's first. Their fundamental suite of hardware centric technologies (such as GeckoSPIO™, GeckoOrient™, GeckoImager™, the GeckoMotorController™, the GeckoTactileShroud™, and GeckoZap™), and software centric technologies (such as GeckoNav™, GeckoChat™, GeckoScheduler™, and GeckoTrak™) have all had upgrades and enhancements announced since the beginning of this year.

The foregoing plethora of sensor-fused technologies brings a new level of cost effective situational awareness to their adaptive, intelligent mobile robots. Situational awareness is the environmental understanding resulting from blended sensor systems and the common sense implications of those combined perceptions that enables the CareBot to "know" (i.e. be "situationally aware") when someone should be contacted immediately about the care receiver's current condition.