Skilligent has developed and is marketing a trainable control system for multi-task autonomous robots. The unique feature of the product is that it enables the robots to learn procedures and skills directly from their human users while maintaining a social contact with them. Prior to Skilligent, the robots had to be programmed by engineers for each specific application. The high costs of the robot programming and the complexity of the systems integration scared off most potential non-professional robot users. The introduction of Skilligent software provides the users with an easy way to train their robots to perform a wide range of assignments without the need to program or configure the robots. The Skilligent control system now enables robots to be trained in the same way as home pets.

The company employs a team of talented engineers and researchers with background in the control systems design, industrial automation, computer vision and embodied cognition.

Skilligent LLC is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and operates an off-shore research and development center.

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Skilligent has developed its robot learning technology to solve one of the key problems facing a designer of a multi-functional/multi-task service robot - how to make the robot adaptable to new tasks and environments while still preserving the ease of use by non-professional users.

The Skilligent technology allows a non-professional user to train a service robot to perform a new task in a particular environment. For example:

• A restaurant owner can train a team of service robots to deliver orders in the restaurant.
• A soldier can train a robot to patrol a particular area and to react on certain events.
• A floor manager at an assisted living facility can train a team of service robots to automatically scan the health of patients, remind them of the need to take the medications and entertain the patients .
• An owner of a budget-priced motel can train a team of service robots to guide guests to their rooms, carry baggage, make deliveries, and patrol the area.

The examples highlight the key advantage of the technology - a user who is not an educated robotics professional, uses the off-the-shelf trainable robots for service automation tasks.

The videos demonstrate that the robot training process is simple and doesn't require any technical expertise . During training, the robot is directed via gestures, object manipulations, simple words and sounds; in other words, the robot is trained in the same way as a home pet.

The technology has multiple commercial applications in the service robotics domain, and generally advances the state of the art.