Kudan and Artisense announce partnership with Vecow, a Taiwanese robotics module provider, for a united solution to accelerate Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR) applications

〜Kudan and Artisense products will be included in Vecow’s VHub ROS solution, a united solution with AI and robotic control functions to accelerate AMR Applications, as a part of its development kit〜

Kudan Inc. (hereafter Kudan) and Artisense Corporation (Kudan’s group company, hereafter Artisense) provide computer vision based mapping and localization solutions for multiple use-cases globally. The autonomous robot segment is one of the fastest growing markets and an important area for the Kudan Group.
Vecow Co., Ltd (hereafter Vecow) is a front-runner in the application fields of embedded systems, image processing, and intelligent automation based in Taiwan. With a strong customer and partner base among AGV/AMR sectors mainly in Asia, including Intel. Vecow recently launched the VHub ROS solution, a robotics solution providing perception and control functions, to accelerate AGV and AMR applications. Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM)* is one of the key components for this package solution.

The Artisense Visual-Inertial Navigation System (VINS) was chosen to be included in the “VHub ROS Development kit”, which provides a complete solution from perception to control for AGV and AMR. VINS is a modular software package that fuses information from cameras, inertial sensors and GNSS receivers, as well as other optional sensor modalities, to provide highly accurate and robust positioning. VINS is compatible with the Realsense d455 stereo camera (VINS-455) and Artisense’s proprietary stereo inertial sensor (VINS-A01). Kudan Group and Vecow will be enabling compatibility between VINS and its solution so that customers can easily integrate VINS into their products developed using VHub ROS.

Thomas Su, Vice President, Vecow CO. Ltd commented, “Open source software is a good start for development but many AMR manufacturers have found it quite challenging to make it work well for their commercial applications. Also combining the right sensor configuration for SLAM is another difficult problem without extensive experience in this field. We believe VINS is exactly what meets the needs of these players”.

Vecow and the Kudan Group are planning to conduct further joint marketing activities and engineering collaboration, with more details to be announced.

* SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) is a technology which allows devices to simultaneously self-locate and create maps of their surrounding environment. Kudan owns SLAM technology utilizing both cameras and Lidar sensors, and has successfully combined these to further develop low-latency, high-precision, high-stability technology.

About Vecow Co., Ltd.
Vecow is a global team with embedded expertise. It designs and delivers industrial-grade computer systems with leading performance, trusted reliability, and innovative concepts since it was founded. Our application fields of Machine Vision and Imaging, Video Analytics, Surveillance, Intelligent Industrial Automation.
For more information, please refer to Vecow’s website at http://www.vecow.com/.

About Artisense Corporation
Artisense is a computer vision and sensor fusion software company that develops an integrated positioning platform using cameras as lead sensor for the automation of robots, vehicles and spatial intelligence applications. On a mission to accelerate the adoption of autonomous robots and machines, Artisense provides products and technology for highly accurate, robust, safe and low-cost navigation in any space.
For more information, please refer to Artisense’s website at http://www.artisense.ai/.

About Kudan Inc.
Kudan (Tokyo Stock Exchange securities code: 4425) is a deep tech research and development company specializing in algorithms controlling artificial perception (AP). As a complement to artificial intelligence (AI), AP functions allow machines to develop autonomy. Currently, Kudan is using its high-level technical innovation to explore business areas based on its own milestone models established for deep tech which provide wide-ranging impact on several major industrial fields.
For more information, please refer to Kudan’s website at https://www.kudan.io/.

■Company details
Name: Kudan Inc.
Securities code: 4425
Representative: CEO Daiu Ko