〜Agreement to enable the provision of high-speed, high-performance SLAM functionality to the autonomous driving and AR/VR fields〜
Kudan Inc. (headquarters in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Managing Director Tomo Ohno) is pleased to announce that it has signed a contract for the formation of a business partnership with Fixstars Corporation (headquarters in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO Satoshi Miki), a global leader in the field of software acceleration and optimization using multi-core CPUs, GPUs and FPGAs. This agreement will allow for the amalgamation of Kudan’s SLAM technology with Fixstars’ software optimization services, making possible the swifter realization of our customers’ autonomous driving and AR/VR application technology.
One of the major fields which will benefit from this relationship is autonomous driving. We will be able to offer services for our customers featuring the software library of the independently-developed spatial perception technology software KudanSLAM, implemented by the software acceleration and optimization specialists Fixstars. By using this service, manufacturers producing technology using autonomous driving functionality such as self-driving vehicles and drones will be able to take advantage of high-performance SLAM that is optimized for their own machinery, and that can be developed over a very short period of time. We also intend to provide services to optimize not only SLAM functionality but the entire system it is a part of, through the acceleration of machine-learning image recognition software, often used in parallel with SLAM.
Image of collaboration between Kudan and Fixstars
KudanSLAM is software developed through independent research and development of SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) technology in the sphere of artificial spatial perception. It produces self-localization data for a range of devices and creates three-dimensional maps of the surrounding areas via the real-time input of data from such sensors as cameras and LiDARs, at high speed and with minimal stress applied to any system in which it is used. Its versatility and practical applicability allow KudanSLAM to be adapted for implementation in a diverse spectrum of devices and use cases, and combined flexibly with a broad range of processors, operating systems and sensors.
Fixstars offers software development and optimization services for a broad range of processors including multi-core CPUs, GPUs and FPGAs. These services are supplied to clients in a wide variety of fields, including domestic and international automotive manufacture, industrial machinery, semiconductors, life sciences and finance. Value is added to each customer’s system by enabling the processors used to be exploited to their maximum possible capacity.
About Fixstars Corporation
Fixstars is a technology company whose key corporate message is “Speed Up Your Business.” Through its software parallelization and optimization expertise to enable the efficient use of multi-core processors, and its acceleration of applications making use of next-generation memory technology supplying high-speed, energy-efficient IO, Fixstars provides eco-friendly “green IT” that serves to expedite the businesses of its customers in fields as diverse as medicine, manufacturing, finance and entertainment.
More detailed information is available from https://www.fixstars.com/jp/.
■Company details
Name: Fixstars Corporation
Address: 18th Floor, Gate City Osaki West Tower, Osaki 1-11-1, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
Founded: August 8th, 2002
Capital: JPY 552,960,000 (as at the end of September 2019)
Representative: President and CEO Satoshi Miki
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), a technology which provides machines (computers and robots) with the equivalent of human “eyes.” As a complement to artificial intelligence (AI), AP functions as a deep tech which allows 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. In addition to the independently-developed AP technology it has produced, Kudan is also conducting R&D in the fields of machine perception, deep perception and neural perception networks, with an eye to the integration of its technology with artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT).
For more information, please refer to Kudan’s website at https://www.kudan.io/.
■Company details
Name: Kudan Inc.
Securities code: 4425
Representative: Managing Director Tomo Ohno
