KEEL technology is designed to allow human-like intelligence to be embedded in devices or software applications.
Brookfield-based Compsim, LLC, has a patent pending for the technology, which targets products where extensive training would be required (diagnostic equipment could be programmed to suggest courses of treatment based on test results), or where the products need to take subjective actions on their own (drone aircraft could search and destroy targets independently and automated production lines could adjust themselves to keep a press in register).
Compsim offers a KEEL toolkit designed to allow those with expertise in specific fields to develop specialized applications to evaluate their design in process.
KEEL is new enough that even industry experts are having a hard time getting a grip on what it is and is not. One thing Compsin co-founder Tom Keeley says KEEL definitely isn’t is a fuzzy logic application.
Fuzzy logic is a computational system that uses approximate rather than precise information for decision generation.
A technical market evaluation provided by Wisconsin Innovation Service Center at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater repeatedly refers to KEEL as a fuzzy logic application.
"In my opinion, Compism’s Fuzzy Logic programming KEEL toolkit is a very solid product design," the UW-Whitewater technical evaluator said. "The artificial intelligence field of programming is one of the largest expanding areas of software development. The use of a visual form of programming for a software area that until recently relied mostly on object-oriented text editing of commands and form lines is a very good development that will offer a marketing and competitive advantage in the intended market."
"The consultant refers to KEEL as ‘fuzzy logic,’" Keeley said. "While both fuzzy logic and KEEL focus on soft information to make decisions, a KEEL-based solution can offer additional advantages by providing explainable answers to any actions that it takes. In this case, the definition of KEEL to be a fuzzy logic system is only a loose definition. Maybe I am being picky."
Apart from the mischaracterization, however, the evaluator was optimistic about the potential for KEEL to win a share of at least some markets.
"From my knowledge of this industry, the use and need of smart software in programming is increasing; the use of software in a decision-making process can greatly help the end user make the right choice," The evaluator wrote. "The proposed KEEL software kit is a very solid product to fit into this software category. The major selling points that I can see are the visual interface, a system for displaying the software’s decision process and visual basic coding."
Aug. 30, 2002 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
