About Us

Balancing business with Humanitarian & Environmental Ideals by Developing & Promoting “Responsible” Technologies! All profits, after regular expenses & taxes, are used for humanitarian & environmental purposes. We believe that each person must do everything within their capabilities to assist humanity and the environment!

Welcome to the world of a family of very eccentric, inventors, scientists & artists! Our project is the culmination of 3 generations of creativity and idealisms!

Who We Are   Why We Founded MRISAR   What We Have Done   What We Will Be Doing

Project Description   Our Guidelines   Creating a Prototype Institute in North Dakota

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Who We Are

MRISAR is a family owned and operated business.  It's creators/main staff members have also founded two nonprofit organizations, which function as a humanitarian and environmental services to the community and the world. Other family members participate as assistant staff and occasional helpers as needed.

Our venture has won awards and International accreditation.  Our research has been published by Universities & Scientific Journals. We have also been featured numerous times in  newspaper articles and television segments.

Why We Founded MRISAR

 We started our family owned and operated company with the intent of funding our humanitarian and environmental: research, development, services, educational resources, and to modestly support ourselves.

What We Have Done

Our internationally renowned business designs and fabricates innovative, easy to repair and maintain, robotic, science and art exhibits for world-class science and technology centers. We also design and create robotic prototypes and products for other beneficial markets. Our customers include foreign and domestic governments, NASA, royalty, film industries, universities and other educational facilities. Our research and development in rehabilitation robotics has been presented before and/or published and awarded by: the United Nations, NASA-Emhart, Stanford, Cambridge, ICORR, ROMAN, IEEE, Discover Awards, etc.

We founded this company in 1993 with the intent to target underserved robotics applications in public use science and technology centers. We only had two employees (ourselves) John Siegel and Victoria Croasdell-Siegel, while living in an old two-story building, with residence upstairs and workshop and exhibition area downstairs. From 1993 to 1998 we developed robotics, science and art exhibits for the science and technology center environments and tested them out in our own “Free Admission” exhibition area. Everything we created was designed and fabricated in our shop. The early displays included the first science and technology center quality five-finger robotic arm, with 9 degrees of freedom. Also included was a mobile robot, which responded to stimuli, and could be controlled by the public. This robot also had a simple functional robotic arm and could change its height. During these research and developmental years, we also took exhibits on location to area schools. This was done to promote higher education for the students and to determine their response to the various technologies we presented.  

Part of the development was to create easy to maintain and repair, robotics technologies that had an incredible longevity in terms of public use. Robotics created for such applications face unique and intense demands. Each device has to allow human interaction, restrict incorrect utilization of the controls, automatically adapt to it’s activity area, while creating the illusion that the user was in total control of the manual aspects of the functions. With this regard we designed unique logic and control circuits and support systems. Educational merit was of additional importance.

From 1998 thru 1999, we made a radical shift in our work, pursuing a number of research and development projects in the areas of rehabilitation robotics. Our robotic prototypes the “Artificial Autonomics & Robotic Interface, For Paralysis Victims; built in 1998, in 2 weeks, with only a budget of $275” and “STRAC: Symbiotic Terrain Robotic Assist Chair; designed and built in 6 weeks, with a budget of $831” were published by and demonstrated before the "ICORR- International Conference On Rehabilitation Robotics" at Stanford University, in California. Both were experiments in facial feature control.

In 2000, we incorporated some of the technologies we developed for our rehabilitation robotics into our exhibit applications. This improvement launched us into a status of world-class and world-marketed exhibit sales. Although most of our time from that point on was spent in developing exhibit technologies, we were still able to devote some of our resources to rehabilitation robotics and other beneficial devices. Some of the safety features worked into our rehabilitation robotics were adapted to our exhibits rendering them safe for use by a wide diversity of ages and disabilities. Additionally, each design was done with power conservation in mind, so that they could easily be converted to alternative energy for museum or science and technology centers that appreciated the validity of such applications.

We have found that combining workshop and living areas (for main employees) has led to positive results in efficiency, economy and in reduction of environmental impact. This allows us to reduce the time taken to develop prototypes and products, as well as reduce project budgets and transportation time losses. Economy and efficiency are further improved by creating shops that design and fabricate prototypes and products totally in-house. To further this successful combination, while calculating for future growth, we purchased a disused school in 2010. 

Shops are divided into a number of categories and housed in separate former classrooms in the facility. Living quarters are configured with efficient use of space. Outdoor and indoor gardens will supplement organic food, and provide a soothing past time activity. Plumbing and heating systems are being optimized for the reduction of environmental impact by converting the old systems to more efficient methods of operation. So far this has reduced our use of heating resources by 50%. Adaptations are being made to operate with alternative energy and to install microclimates. This will enhance all of the above. 

We design robotic parts and systems so that they are universally adaptable to numerous types of application. This has allowed us to mix and match technologies and parts that we create and to quickly produce prototypes and finished products. With these strategies we have rapidly taken our venture from a point of having a single page flyer to a 72-page catalog of predominantly robotic products. In the “Public Use Museum & Center” exhibit venue, we design, fabricate and sell more types of robotic devices then other company worldwide.

What We Will Be Doing

We are in a specialized market with public use robotic exhibits. It appeals to our interests in serving public education and also generates funds needed for our humanitarian and environmental interests. We are currently expanding on our selection to broaden our market capabilities and are designing and building robotics for use in other applications such as:

1-     Surveillance & Security Robots in Commercial Applications: robots to assist human guards, or too keep vigil in extremely hazardous areas.

2-     Bomb Retrieving Robots: robots that can retrieve and isolate or disarm bombs.

3-     Fire Fighting Robots: robots that can fight fires and go into high temperature and toxic environments that humans cannot enter.

4-     Surveillance & Security Robots in Domestic Applications: robots that monitor security and safety in home environments.

5-     Humanoid Androids for Cybernetic Research: for the purpose of developing robotic and human interactive communications and as a model for artificial limbs.

6-     Cybernetic Augmentation for Humanoid Teleoperated Robots: for experiments in remote handling applications, such as emergency response situations that require a robot of human proportions (another humanoid robotic project).

7-     Operation Via Telepresence: for remote applications in space, undersea and other hostile environments.

8-     Specialty Suppliers for Robotic Applications: including but not limited too, ultra flexible wire, gear motors, electronic and electromechanical assemblies and specialized servo controls. 

To balance between our current market, upcoming applications and our humanitarian and environmental interests, we are using the school we recently purchased as a platform for further developments. From this platform we are seeking collaborative projects with other organizations, educational facilities and businesses that share our concern for humanitarian and environmental applications for technologies. Additionally the approximately 36,000 square foot school is in itself a prototype, as it will be the first of its kind in the format of being a self-sustaining, humanitarian and environmentally based center/institute, which promotes research and development for economically responsible solutions to problems faced by people of the earth in their natural, social, business, economic and family environments, through beneficial programs and technological innovations. 

Project Description

We design, fabricate and sell Science, Art and Robotic Exhibits to advance our Humanitarian and Environmental, Research & Development projects.

We also maintain a Science Consultant Curriculum Enhancement Program for public schools, Touring Science and Art & Robotics Programs.

Our primary goal is Humanitarian & Environmental Research & Development, which is based on our belief that each person should do everything within their capability to honor the spirit of humanity and the environment.

We are creating an environmentally sustainable institute for educational, humanitarian and environmental research and development projects. The institute features award winning, world renowned exhibits, R & D and educational activities.

Our Guidelines

To find low cost, low impact solutions to environmental and humanitarian problems; to produce educational, thought provoking and entertaining  exhibits and programs, with all material being acceptable for children to view, or participate in; to strive to accommodate disabled individuals; to utilize recycled & salvaged materials whenever possible; to promote Humanitarian & Environmental Ideals.

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