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Idealab for Evolution Robotics
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IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ITRI Adopts Evolution Robotics Software Platform For Robotics Development

Government initiative aims to make Taiwan a world leader in robotics

Pasadena, Calif. – February 8, 2007 – Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) announced today that it has selected the Evolution Robotics Software Platform (ERSP®) to provide a standard architecture for robotic application development in Taiwan.

Identifying robotics as a key industry for growth, the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) commissioned ITRI to create a national robotic SDK (software development kit) to provide an industry-standard platform for robotics. This software development kit will offer Taiwan’s corporations, labs and universities best-in-class tools for developing a broad range of new robotic products and applications, as well as provide a path for incorporating and sharing new technologies over time.

In deciding upon one of the most critical components for the robotics SDK, ITRI chose the Evolution Robotics’ ERSP Architecture to provide the standard foundation for all application development. In this role, the ERSP Architecture will essentially serve as the robot operating system, providing the key infrastructure and functions for integrating all of the hardware and software components.

The ERSP Architecture supports an effectively unlimited range of robots, in part by leveraging a layered system of software modules. These layers include high-level task management and decision making (e.g. how does the robot prioritize goals), expandable libraries of individual behaviors (e.g. driving, detecting obstacles, listening for commands, etc.), and tools and configurations for different hardware (e.g. running on a Linux box or a Windows PC.) Using this open system, developers can quickly write their own applications on top of the architecture, integrate new modules and behaviors within the system, as well as plug in third party applications.

By adopting the ERSP Architecture, ITRI supported organizations in Taiwan will not only have fully working software for building and running their applications, they will also have a common standard for integrating technologies with each other as well as companies around the world.

“Well over 100 different companies and universities have licensed the ERSP platform for research and commercial development,” said Dr. Paolo Pirjanian, President and CEO of Evolution Robotics. “Now, with ITRI’s forward-looking efforts to establish standards in the market, a company in Taiwan that develops a new telepresence control application could easily license that to a company in Europe that has a mobile robot on the market running the ERSP architecture.”

“We believe this coordinated approach using our SDK and the ERSP architecture will lead to much more rapid innovation of new technologies, faster time to market for new products, and overall, a stronger competitive position for Taiwan in robotics,” said Mr. Pao of ITRI.

Components of the ERSP have been used on broad range of products on the market, from the Sony Aibo entertainment robot and Sharper Image eVac robotic vacuum cleaner, to most recently Banda’s NetTansor home telepresence robot and a variety of visual search programs for mobile phones. Developers and researchers interested in learning more about the ERSP can visit: www.evolution.com/products/ersp/

ITRI has had a long track record in establishing technology standards and promoting industrial leadership in Taiwan. ITRI has played a significant role in helping Taiwan become a world-class player in semiconductors, personal computers and many other high-tech sectors. ITRI is active in a broad number of emerging markets and maintains research partnerships around the globe. For more information about ITRI, please visit: www.itri.org.tw/eng/

About Industrial Technology Research Institute

The Industrial Technology Research Institute - ITRI - is a non-profit R&D organization engaging in applied research and technical service. It was founded in 1973 by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to attend to the technological needs of Taiwan's industrial development. ITRI has played a vital role in the transformation of the economy from an agriculture-based model to an industrial one. By year 2001 it has grown to a 6000 people operation, and serves as the technical center for industry and an unofficial arm of the government's industrial policies in Taiwan. Backed by its broad research scope and close industrial ties, ITRI is becoming an increasingly active member in the global industrial R&D community.

About Evolution Robotics

Evolution Robotics (www.evolution.com) partners with brand leaders to make their products smarter by providing solutions for vision, autonomous navigation and intelligence. Evolution Robotics’ mission is to make everyday products smarter through innovation in visual pattern recognition and robotics. The company’s technology platform includes ERSP®, the standard Robotics Operating System, ViPR®, the gold standard in visual pattern recognition and NorthStar®, the world’s lowest cost localization system for autonomous navigation. Evolution Robotics has provided unique and differentiating functions for products such as robotic toys, robotic vacuum cleaning products and educational robots. The company also develops visual search engine technologies and partners with mobile service companies to develop mobile marketing and mobile commerce applications for camera phones. Additionally, the company markets LaneHawk™, a loss-prevention solution for retailers that reduces inventory shrinkage through Evolution Robotics Retail, a subsidiary company. Evolution Robotics is an operating company of Idealab, a creator and operator of technology businesses.

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