Having founded
Gamma Two Robotics in 2009, wife-and-husband duo Louise and Jim Gunderson are now going to market with their first product.
Both Gundersons earned their PhDs at the University of Virginia before returning to Colorado in 2003 -- Jim in computer science and Louise in systems engineering -- skill sets “that dovetail really nicely” with Gamma Two. The four-employee company will likely double its staff in 2013.
“For 50 years we've been waiting for robots to help us,” says Jim. “Robotics has not changed in 50 years.”
In response, the Gundersons developed an artificial intelligence (AI) based on biological brains - lizard brains, to be precise. Robots with this AI, like Gamma Two's Vigilus Security Robots, can better interact with humans to complete tasks normally handled by humans.
“We built it from the ground up and turned it loose,” Jim says. “We got a system that behaves like a living system. It acts like my dog.”
The first target market for the Gundersons' creations is the security industry, which pays $15 billion annually in salaries.
“It's a great market for us,” says Jim, who is Gamma Two's CTO. “They are desperate. They can't fill the jobs they have and they need to fill more.”
Manufactured in Colorado with primarily domestic components, the $36,000 Vigilus brings an eight-month return on investment to the table, plus it never gets bored, sleepy, or sloppy and it never quits.
“The motto in the robotics industry is 'dull, dirty and dangerous,'” Louise says of target uses. “We're building something that is designed to augment humans.”
Beyond security, the Gundersons are eying home assistance and health care for their next products. They are in discussions with events centers, prisons, museums and office buildings for the Vigilus, which was launched in September 2012 and was first deployed deployed in Colorado.
Based in the Bolt Factory building in the Art District on Santa Fe, Gamma Two often opens its doors to the public on First Friday with its robots serving finger foods and drinks.
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