Russian robotic assistants Promobot will appear in the US. Developing their Permian company signed a contract to supply 2,800 of its robots from American companies Intellitronix, which will be an exclusive distributor of robots. This was reported to the "Vedomosti" by the chairman of the board of directors Promobot Alexei Yuzhakov and the general director of Intellitronix Paul Spivak. According to them, the exclusive right to distribute will cost the American company $ 600,000, and for the whole batch of robots Intellitronix can pay up to $ 56.7 million within five years, on which the contract is calculated.

In 2018, Promobot will supply about 75 robots in the US, in the future, supplies should increase in order to achieve 100 pieces by 2022. per month. According to Yuzhakov, now Promobot has already received an advance payment before the end of 2018, in the future monthly payments are envisaged. The final price of the robot in the US partners do not disclose.

Robots Promobot can work as consultants in banks and retail, be concierges and security guards, guide-guides, lists Yuzhakov. For example, in late 2017, two robots Promobot bought Sberbank, each robot cost the bank 1.6 million rubles. They advised clients, helped to fill out some documents, explained to Vedomosti, the head of the project office of APF Sberbank, Mikhail Vladimirov.

Intellitronix is ​​ready to sell any number of Promobot robots - it all depends on how much Promobot can deliver, I'm sure Spivak. He clarifies that Intellitronix intends to sell robots under the brand Promobot. No problems with the Russian origin of robots Spivak does not see (according to a representative of Promobot, now robots are going to Perm).

Today, for Promobot, first of all to increase production, Yuzhakov acknowledges, for which the company is looking for investors in Russia and abroad, including in the Silicon Valley. Demand in the US is greater than Promobot can satisfy, as the company has obligations to partners and in other countries, says Yuzhakov. To date, sold about 320 robots Promobot, counts Yuzhakov: about 65% - in Russia, the rest - in 18 other countries.

If there is a contract and demand, then it is possible to increase production volumes easily, said Vitaly Nedelsky, president of the National Association of Market Participants in Robotics. In the US, a very large market of retail and services and to enter it is a very rational decision, he believes. Of course, in the United States there is higher competition in the field of robotics, Nedelsky states, but artificial intelligence lies at the heart of Promobot's technology and indicates that it can be continuously improved by keeping it at a competitive level. In addition, such a scale of supply will give the company an array of large data that will help train the system, Nedelsky points out. Moreover, the robot has not yet covered all the potential services that it can provide, and this list can be expanded, recalls Nedelsky.

Information and service robots in the US are not widely distributed, says the technical director of the company "Android Technology" (engaged in the development and production of humanoid robotics) Eugene Dudorov. While there is no stable market, and the functionality of the robots is limited, therefore, even large customers will hardly exceed 10 robots, he believes. Plus, when exporting to the US, the price of a robot can grow by 40-50% due to customs fees and mark-ups.