Japan is the first stop
Gasgoo Embodied Intelligence learned that Vbot (Wei Ta Dong Li) has formally begun its global layout, with Japan as the first overseas market. Vbot signed a strategic cooperation deal with Japanese robot solutions provider Future Robotics to expand the Japan market over three years, with an initial order of 1 billion yuan.
Future Robotics was founded in August 2015 and is headquartered in Tokyo, created by core members of Waseda University’s robot research group, established by professor Ichiro Kato in the 1970s, one of the earliest humanoid research teams in the world. Building on that legacy, Future Robotics focuses on super-aged-society adaptation, human-robot collaborative manufacturing, disaster recovery, smart medical services and public welfare, with full capability from needs analysis to deployment.
It has already procured Vbot’s flagship quadruped development platform, the Datou EDU edition, and will use the open robot body to build localised applications for elderly companionship and rural public services. The Datou EDU inherits the soft-hard integrated capability of the Datou consumer robot, with 128 TOPS of edge compute, a depth binocular camera and 16-line LiDAR, open ROS 2 and five development interfaces, so partners can build applications without starting from scratch.
Why elderly care
Vbot sees elderly and wellness care as the clearest demand path for quadruped robots, from reminders and companionship to mobility aid and goods transport, as ageing societies need flexible, durable services. Beyond Japan, Vbot is also advancing elderly-care communities, wellness hospitals and retirement villages in China and Singapore.
Globally, around the US, Europe, the Middle East, Singapore and Korea, Vbot will build online and offline retail, global logistics and after-sales networks, and connect international cloud and model services to complete the order-to-delivery chain. The company is Beijing Vbot Technology.
Editor’s note: This article is based on reporting by Gasgoo. Read the original in Chinese here: https://www.gasgoo.com/apps/50640d4b55d5cba175fb84f15d679f19/robot/news/70469009.