Robotic process automation system with hybrid workflows
A computerized task automation system operates to permit automation of processes comprising one or more computer implemented tasks. Software robots may be created and retrieved to automate human user interaction with computer systems. The software robots each take one of three forms: (i) an attended software robot that is encoded to interact with one or more application programs and to accept one or more inputs from the user as required by the one or more application programs, (ii) an unattended software robot that is encoded to automatically interact with one or more application programs without any user input; and (iii) a cognitive software robot that is encoded to automatically interact with one or more application programs without any user input and is further encoded to automatically alter its interactions with the one or more application programs by way of a machine learning engine.
1. A computerized task automation system, comprising:
a digital data storage containing at least:
one or more data structures that each specify a process comprising a plurality of tasks, at least a portion of the tasks are automatically performed by one or more software robots interacting with one or more application programs executing on one or more computer systems,
wherein each software robot of the one or more software robots is encoded with a set of instructions that cause the software robot to interact with one or more application programs, in order to perform one or more tasks using the one or more application programs in a manner that a user would perform the task; and
a processor programmed with instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to at least:
retrieve, from the data storage, a selected process that is selected via a user;
provide to the user an interface that provides a visual representation of the selected process including at least links among tasks that specify a sequence in which the tasks are performed; and
accept, from the user by way of the interface, one or more inputs to carry out at least a portion of the selected process by one or more of the software robots, wherein at least one of the one or more software robots takes one of a plurality of forms comprising:
an attended software robot that is encoded to interact with one or more application programs and to accept one or more inputs from the user as required by the one or more application programs; and
an unattended software robot that is encoded to automatically interact with one or more application programs without any user input,
wherein at least another of the one or more software robots comprises a cognitive software robot that is encoded to automatically interact with one or more application programs without any user input and is further encoded to automatically alter its interactions with the one or more application programs by way of a machine learning engine.
2. The computerized task automation system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:
accept one or more inputs by the user by way of the interface to permit the user to create a new software robot and to alter an existing software robot; and
accept one or more inputs by the user by way of the interface to permit the user to select and to execute one or more processes.
3. The computerized task automation system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more software robots interact with one or more other software robots by way of an application programming interface that permits a first of the one or more software robots to invoke execution of a second of the one or more software robots by executing a call defined by an application programming interface in the first of the one or more software robots and the second of the one or more software robots.
4. The computerized task automation system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:
provide to the user one or more recommendations of software robots available in the computerized data storage to perform one or more of the tasks.
5. The computerized task automation system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:
provide to the user one or more recommendations of software robots available in the computerized data storage to perform one or more of the tasks as a function of software robots mapped to perform the one or more of the tasks.
6. The computerized task automation system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:
calculate an automation amount for the selected process that is indicative of a number of automated steps in the selected process as compared to a total number of steps in the selected process; and
present the automation amount to the user.
7. The computerized task automation system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to:
provide to the user a visual interface that accepts from the user one or more inputs to specify actions to be performed by a new software robot.
8. A computerized method for performing task automation, comprising:
retrieving, from a data storage, a process selected by a user,
wherein the data storage contains at least one or more data structures that each specify a process comprising a plurality of tasks, at least a portion of the tasks are automatically performed by one or more software robots interacting with one or more application programs executing on one or more computer systems;
providing, to the user, an interface that provides a visual representation of the process including at least links among the tasks that specify a sequence in which the tasks are performed; and
accepting, from the user by way of the interface, one or more inputs to replace one or more of the tasks with one or more of the software robots, wherein each of the one or more software robots takes one of three forms comprising:
an attended software robot that is encoded to interact with one or more application programs and to accept one or more inputs from the user as required by the one or more application programs,
an unattended software robot that is encoded to automatically interact with one or more application programs without any user input; and
a cognitive software robot that is encoded to automatically interact with one or more application programs without any user input and is further encoded to automatically alter its interactions with the one or more application programs by way of a machine learning engine.
9. The computerized method of claim 8 further comprising:
accepting one or more inputs by the user by way of the interface to permit the user to create a new software robot and to alter an existing software robot; and
accepting one or more inputs by the user by way of the interface to permit the user to select and to execute one or more processes.
10. The computerized method of claim 8 , wherein the one or more software robots interact with one or more other software robots by way of an application programming interface that permits a first of the one or more software robots to invoke execution of a second of the one or more software robots by executing a call defined by an application programming interface in the first of the one or more software robots and the second of the one or more software robots.
11. The computerized method of claim 8 further comprising:
providing to the user one or more recommendations of software robots available in the computerized data storage to perform one or more of the tasks.
12. The computerized method of claim 8 further comprising:
providing to the user one or more recommendations of software robots available in the computerized data storage to perform one or more of the tasks as a function of software robots mapped to perform the one or more of the tasks.
13. The computerized method of claim 8 further comprising:
calculating an automation amount for the process selected by the user that is indicative of a number of automated steps in the process selected by the user as compared to a total number of steps in the process selected by the user; and
presenting the automation amount to the user.
14. The computerized method of claim 8 further comprising:
providing to the user a visual interface that accepts from the user one or more inputs to specify actions to be performed by a new software robot.
15. The computerized method of claim 8 , wherein each software robot of the one or more software robots is encoded with a set of instructions that cause the software robot to interact with one or more application programs, as encoded by the set of instructions, to perform one or more tasks using one or more applications to complete a task in a manner that a user would perform the task.
16. A non-transitory storage medium, having stored thereupon one or more program modules comprising computer-executable instructions for execution on a computer system, the computer-executable instructions causing the computer system to implement a robotic process automation system that employs data storage containing one or more data structures that each specify a process comprising a plurality of tasks, wherein at least a portion of the tasks are automatically performed by one or more software robots interacting with one or more application programs executing on one or more computer systems, the computer executable instructions causing a processor when executing the computer executable instructions to at least:
retrieving, from the data storage, a process selected by a user;
providing, to the user, an interface that provides a visual representation of the process including at least links among the tasks that specify a sequence in which the tasks are performed; and
accepting, from the user by way of the interface, one or more inputs to replace one or more of the tasks with one or more of the software robots,
wherein at least one of the one or more software robots comprises a cognitive software robot that is encoded to automatically interact with one or more application programs without any user input and is further encoded to automatically alter its interactions with the one or more application programs by way of a machine learning engine.
17. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 16 further comprising computer executable instructions causing the processor when executing the computer executable instructions to:
accept one or more inputs by the user by way of the interface to permit the user to create a new software robot and to alter an existing software robot; and
accept one or more inputs by the user by way of the interface to permit the user to select and to execute one or more processes.
18. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 16 wherein the one or more software robots is encoded with instructions that causes interaction with one or more other software robots by way of an application programming interface that permits a first of the one or more software robots to invoke execution of a second of the one or more software robots by executing a call defined by an application programming interface in the first of the one or more software robots and the second of the one or more software robots.
19. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 16 further comprising computer executable instructions causing the processor when executing the computer executable instructions to:
provide to the user one or more recommendations of software robots available in the computerized data storage to perform one or more of the tasks.
20. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 16 further comprising computer executable instructions causing the processor when executing the computer executable instructions to:
provide to the user one or more recommendations of software robots available in the computerized data storage to perform one or more of the tasks as a function of software robots mapped to perform the one or more of the first portion of the tasks.
21. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 16 further comprising computer executable instructions causing the processor when executing the computer executable instructions to:
calculate an automation amount for the process selected by the user that is indicative of a number of automated steps in the process selected by the user as compared to a total number of steps in the process selected by the user; and
present the automation amount to the user.
22. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 21 , further comprising computer executable instructions causing the processor when executing the computer executable instructions to:
provide to the user one or more recommendations of software robots available in the computerized data storage to perform one or more of the tasks.
23. A non-transitory storage medium, having stored thereupon one or more program modules comprising computer-executable instructions for execution on a computer system, the computer-executable instructions causing the computer system to implement a robotic process automation system that employs data storage containing one or more data structures that each specify a process comprising a plurality of tasks, wherein at least a portion of the tasks are automatically performed by one or more software robots interacting with one or more application programs executing on one or more computer systems, the computer executable instructions causing a processor when executing the computer executable instructions to at least:
retrieving, from the data storage, a process selected by a user;
providing, to the user, an interface that provides a visual representation of the process including at least links among the tasks that specify a sequence in which the tasks are performed; and
accepting, from the user by way of the interface, one or more inputs to replace one or more of the tasks with one or more of the software robots,
wherein at least one of the one or more software robots comprises:
an unattended software robot that is encoded to automatically interact with one or more application programs without any user input; and
a cognitive software robot that is encoded to automatically interact with one or more application programs without any user input and is further encoded to automatically alter its interactions with the one or more application programs by way of a machine learning engine.
24. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 23 , wherein at least one of the one or more software robots comprises:
an attended software robot that is encoded to interact with one or more application programs and to accept one or more inputs from the user as required by the one or more application programs.