Southern California-based Evolution Robotics announced several new developments last week during CES, one of which is a new navigation technology it claims is cheap enough to bring robots to the mass market. Story snip:
“Evolution Robotics said its [‘visual simultaneous localisation and mapping,’ or VSLAM] technology that lets a robot determine its position relative to its environment is based on wheel sensors and a Web cam that cost less than $50. That’s a fraction of the cost of current robot navigation systems relying on laser range finders, which can cost $5,000, the company said. The company asserts that its relatively inexpensive system ‘will result in a new generation of products that were previously inconceivable.'”
Evolution also announced that toymaker giant Bandai will license its software platform to develop a new personal robot product modeled on the popular “Doraemon” character. Other Bandai toys include Power Rangers, Tamagotchi, Gundam and Digimon. The cat-like robot will be developed by 2005 and targeted as an “edutainment” personal ‘bot for families in Japan and Asia.
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