GeckoSystems Expands, Migrates Mobile Robot Solutions to Wheelchairs

CONYERS, Ga., Oct. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- GeckoSystems Intl. Corp. (PINKSHEETS: GOSY | http://www.geckosystems.com/) announced today that due to its development of a collision proof upgrade kit for wheelchairs, it has recently developed new software to more efficiently enable that process to platforms not of GeckoSystems' design. They are:  GeckoSteer™, GeckoVerify™, and GeckoConfigEd™. GeckoSystems is a dynamic leader in the emerging Mobile Service Robot industry, revolutionizing its development and usage with "Mobile Robot Solutions for Safety, Security, and Service™."

Beginning this past April with the receipt of a power wheelchair from Japan's oldest wheelchair manufacturer, Imasen Engineering Corp., GeckoSystems has been migrating some of its mobile robot solutions in order to collision proof power wheelchairs, typically under joystick control. GeckoSteer was invented to interpret digital signals from a standard joystick to efficiently communicate with GeckoNav. This places obstacle avoidance AI software between the user and the wheelchair drive system.

GeckoVerify was developed to ease and facilitate the debugging of the multiple AI software savant communications in achieving their loose crowd level of mobile robot autonomy on a mobile platform not initially designed for autonomous mobile robot usage.  

One of GeckoSystems' fundamental mobile robot solutions, the automatic self-navigation AI software GeckoNav™, has nearly a hundred parameters that can readily be adjusted for different mobile platforms using the new GeckoConfigEd. The metaphor for this adaptation would be the tuning of generic four-barrel carburetors to different automotive engines with appropriate primary jets, accelerator pump sizes, etc. for that specific engine's configuration and performance requirements.

GeckoSystems' new GeckoImager™ uses structured light machine vision ("depth camera") data from the Kinect subsystem. This provides its automatic, self-navigation AI software, GeckoNav, with sufficient and timely data to achieve actionable situation awareness resulting in a very safe, loose crowd level of mobile robot autonomy that is "collision proof."

GeckoSystems has several breakthrough technologies -- not just the GeckoImager -- in concert with the Kinect, and all the other necessary mobile robot solutions, such as its GeckoSavants, to have a complete, cost effective and multifunctional product. Due to the robustness of GeckoSystems' biological hierarchal architecture, GeckoNav, being "sensor loving," and the recent invention of GeckoImager, the company has strengthened its "first mover" position in this emerging trillion-dollar industry.

GeckoSystems' successful adaptation of Microsoft's Kinect with the GeckoImager enables more markets to be addressed in addition to wheelchairs, such as retailers. The strategic business need addressed by GeckoSystems' AscBot™ is to enhance the in store shopper's experience to strategically position the retailer as better, different than its competitors. This will enable it to enjoy margins greater than its competitors while maintaining desired market share. This type of strategic marketing positioning is necessary to increase gross sales while reducing overall operational costs to increase net profits. Simultaneously, while increasing sales with in store assistance and product promotions, the AscBot's mobile and intelligent video surveillance systems would dramatically reduce shrinkage due to internal and external theft. Simply stated, GeckoSystems' AscBot would "inform and observe™" in retail stores.

The development of the AscBot will make extensive use of existing GeckoSystems technologies originally developed for the CareBot. While the AscBot will require a superset of the existing GeckoSystems capabilities, the additional functions required by the AscBot are currently available in off-the-shelf products that can be easily integrated into the existing GeckoSavant™ architecture.

GeckoSystems' successful adaptation of Microsoft's Kinect with the GeckoImager enables more markets to be addressed in addition to retail stores, such as healthcare cost reduction with the newly announced ChairBot™.

GeckoSystems has been developing eldercare capable personal robots, the CareBot™, for over 14 years. Recently it completed its first year of in home trials with many insightful and unexpected benefits to not only the care receiver, but also the extended caregiving family. Given this experience, it believes that an eldercare capable robotic wheelchair upgrade could cost effectively assist those infirm family members that are not typically able to walk about freely, needing routine vital sign monitoring and immediate notification of appropriate care givers when vital sign limits are triggered. This group represents family members requiring nearly constant monitoring.

This robotic wheelchair, or ChairBot, would consist of a wheelchair equipped with several artificial intelligence systems (GeckoSavants) developed for the CareBot. In concert these systems enable the occupant of the chair to benefit from automatic collision avoidance and room-to-room transitions. GeckoChat™ would provide verbal interaction for control of the wheelchair and annunciate medication and other timely reminders. The GeckoScheduler™ would time and commence the prompting of the various reminders for medication and/or vital sign measurements such as blood pressure, pulse rate, blood sugar and/or oxygenation level, EKG monitoring, etc. mounted on the wheelchair. The GeckoSuper™ would be programmed by the caregivers such that appropriate alarms would trigger should any pre-set vital sign parameters be exceeded and pre-designated parties promptly notified by pager, email, and/or cell phone. In nursing homes or assisted living facilities each ChairBot would be wirelessly networked into the residence's IS system for continuous monitoring of each individual's vital signs as they went about their daily routines.

While the cost of the ChairBot would be greater than that of a CareBot, the cost benefit ratio would be even more extraordinary since semi-professional and professional care givers would no longer be required to be in near constant physical proximity of the care receiver. Hence one caregiver could provide complete monitoring of multiple patients and yet be immediately notified if any of their vital signs exceeded pre-established bounds.

"We are very pleased with the hard work and long hours invested by our team of engineers and programmers these past few months at achieving this enhanced value proposition to our consumer, professional healthcare, and commercial security marketplaces. We continue to expect technology-licensing revenues to precede revenues from product manufacturing and sales and have two to three prospective licensees in active discussions. This augurs well for increased ROI and shareholder value for our 1300+ investors," stated Martin Spencer, president/CEO, GeckoSystems Intl. Corp.

About the Company:

http://www.GeckoSystems.com/

Since 1997, GeckoSystems has developed a comprehensive, coherent, and sufficient suite of hardware and software inventions to enable a new type of home appliance (a personal companion robot) the CareBot(tm), to be created for the mass consumer marketplace. The suite of primary inventions includes: GeckoNav(tm), GeckoChat(tm) and GeckoTrak(tm).

The primary market for this product is the family for use in eldercare, care for the chronically ill, and childcare. The primary distribution channel for this new home appliance is the thousands of independent personal computer retailers in the U.S. The manufacturing infrastructure for this new product category of mobile service robots is essentially the same as the personal computer industry. Several outside contract manufacturers have been identified and qualified their ability to produce up to 1,000 CareBots per month within four to six months.

The Company is market driven. At the time of founding, nearly 14 years ago, the Company did extensive primary market research to determine the demographic profile of the early adopters of the then proposed product line. Subsequent to, and based on that original market research, it has assembled numerous focus groups to evaluate the fit of the CareBot personal robot into the participants' lives and their expected usage. The Company has also frequently employed the Delphi market research methodology by contacting and interviewing senior executives, practitioners, and researchers knowledgeable in the area of elder care. Using this factual basis of internally performed primary and secondary market research, and third party research is the statistical substance for the Company's sales forecasts.

Not surprisingly the scientific statistical analyses applied revealed that elderly over sixty-five living alone in metropolitan areas with broadband Internet available and sufficient household incomes to support the increased costs were identified as those most likely to adopt initially. Due to the high cost of assisted living, nursing homes, etc. the payback for a CareBot is expected to be only six to eight months while keeping elderly care receivers independent, in their own long time homes, and living longer due to the comfort and safety of more frequent attention from their loved ones.

The Company's "mobile robot solutions for safety, security and service(tm)" are appropriate not only for the consumer, but also professional healthcare, commercial security and defense markets. Professional healthcare require cost effective, timely errand running, portable telemedicine, etc. Homeland Security requires cost effective mobile robots to patrol and monitor public venues for weapons and WMD detection. Military users desire the elimination of the "man in the loop" to enable unmanned ground and air vehicles to not require constant human control and/or intervention.

The Company's business model is very much like that of an automobile manufacturer. Due to the final assembly, test, and shipping being done based on geographic and logistic realities; strategic business-to-business relationships can range from private labeling to joint manufacturing and distribution to licensing only.

Several dozen patent opportunities exist for the Company due to the many innovative and cost effective breakthroughs embodied not only in GeckoNav, GeckoChat, and GeckoTrak, but also in additional, secondary systems that include: GeckoOrient™, GeckoMotorController™, the GeckoTactileShroud™, the GeckoImager™, and the GeckoSPIO™.

Mr. Spencer received his Masters in Business Administration from the J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, in 1987.  Consequently he is formally trained and educated for the professional management of publicly traded domestic and international corporations.

Social Media:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=140182685996116&v=wall

YouTube: Kinect Enabled Personal Robot video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn93BS44Das

In this video one will observe static and dynamic obstacle avoidance into and back out of a cluttered and narrow "gauntlet alley." One may determine that the movements are smoother than what most people could do using a joystick, human controlled mobile platform. One will witness three low levels of obstacle avoidance: reactive, proactive, and contemplative. No prior mapping or path planning was performed before or during the demonstration run. GeckoNav, the AI savant doing the guiding, controls all mobile activities during this demo. You will witness subsumptive AI behaviors occurring as obstacle avoidance subsumes way point seek and vice versa with an emergent behavior expressed as errand running down a cluttered hallway and back without any human intervention.

"One CareBot, One Family"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxK46chfP6A&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Mobile Robot Navigates Dining Room & Kitchen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_jd9_0W9mE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Telephone:
Main number: 1-866-CAREBOT (227-3268)
International: +1 678-413-9236
Fax: +1 678-413-9247

Safe Harbor:

Statements regarding financial matters in this press release other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company intends that such statements about the Company's future expectations, including future revenues and earnings, technology efficacy and all other forward-looking statements be subject to the Safe Harbors created thereby. The Company is a development stage firm that continues to be dependent upon outside capital to sustain its existence. Since these statements (future operational results and sales) involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, the Company's actual results may differ materially from expected results.

Kinect, Xbox are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

SOURCE GeckoSystems Intl. Corp.