Robots are an intriguing technology because of their potential to play a rich and rewarding part in our physical and social world. Taking inspiration and guidance from the science of animal and human behavior, an interactive mobile robots should be a capable and appealing creatures that can engage us, communicate with us, and give and take from us on our terms. AcroTek's GuardBots and MentorBots, for instance, exhibit the human characteristic neccessary to perform their particular specialties. Robot development is not only an engineering endeavor, but a project to gain scientific insight into the mechanisms that underlie human and animal capabilities, and to develop a science of human-robot interaction. Exploring human-robot interaction requires constructing increasingly versatile and sophisticated robots.

AcroTek, Inc. has specialized in developing and deploying information systems that meet our client's exacting functional, operational and performance requirements. We have specialized in helping our clients achieve difficult performance requirements such as multi-level system security, scalability to very high volumes of data and users, real-time applications and high levels of reliability/availability in systems of critical importance. In the process, we have developed repeatable methodologies, and gained knowledge of the tools and techniques necessary to create systems that perform.

Technical, professional, developmental and Internet services make up the bulk of what AcroTek delivers when it comes to business technology solutions. Using only the most professional and highly skilled personnel, AcroTek specializes in a full range of technology needs... Network Sales and Support, Software Application Implementation and Development and standard Warranty Break/Fix for a variety of platforms and operating systems.

We have captured the tools, techniques and "lessons learned" from successful completion of hundreds of assignments involving complex systems and have incorporated them into the AcroTek Systems Engineering Methodology (SEM). The SEM has evolved to provide a comprehensive framework to successfully manage large-scale system development contracts. Our SEM is based on standard life cycle phases and provides a comprehensive, integrated set of AcroTek-developed and industry-standard methodologies (with supporting techniques and tools), processes, procedures, standards, and products applicable to each of these phases.

We have developed systems engineering tools such as the IWSD (see related case study) designed to capture and manage pertinent system information and knowledge throughout the life cycle of a multi-year development, providing up-to-date access to this information and knowledge to a broad base of operators and developers throughout the life cycle, for successful system life cycle management.

Our in-depth knowledge of digital networks and server hardware technologies, the broad spectrum of software tools and prepackaged "out-of-the-box" component applications, our security engineering expertise, and our human factors/"user experience" engineering skills enable us to create reliable, secure, scalable systems which achieve mission goals.