Featuring Sunny OIT Vision Sensor, Horizon Robotic Launches China's First Integrated Hardware-Software Robot Development Platform

On June 14, 2022, Horizon Robotic, a global leader in edge AI computing platforms, hosted the "Hello Hobot" Horizon Robotic Development Platform Launch Event online. The company unveiled the Horizon Hobot Platform, China's first integrated hardware-software, open, and user-friendly robot development platform, designed to significantly enhance robot development efficiency and propel industry advancement and ecosystem prosperity.

As a partner of Horizon Robotic, Frank Xu, Deputy General Manager of Sunny OIT, was invited to speak at the launch. He delivered a presentation titled "Visionary Eyes: The Next Evolution of Robot Perception," highlighting key collaboration achievements and expressing expectations for jointly building a thriving robot development ecosystem.

Powerful Collaboration: Equipping Robots with Intelligent Vision

To provide developers with a one-stop development experience, Horizon Robotic partnered with Sunny OIT and other collaborators to adapt core robot development components and kits. During the event, they announced the launch of the Sunrise® X3 Pi development board, offering high computing power and broad compatibility.

This development board integrates Sunny OIT's TOF-based RGB-D vision fusion sensor. Through this collaboration, robots gain clearer and more intelligent "eyes." Cumulative shipments of Sunrise® chips have now surpassed one million units, achieving mass production and deployment in fields including service robots, smart displays, and smart home appliances. These chips are widely used in products from partners such as Ecovacs, Xiaodu, and TCL. Dr. Yu Kai, Founder and Chief Scientist of Horizon Robotic, also announced the establishment of the Horizon AIoT & General Robotics Business Unit during the launch.

Wang Cong, General Manager of the Horizon AIoT & General Robotics Business Unit, stated, "Amidst the rapid development of robotics, the strength of the robot ecosystem is fundamental to driving industry-wide progress." Sunny OIT elevates robot perception capabilities through its vision solutions, while Horizon Robotic's Sunrise® series chips provide the high-performance, low-power computing foundation for the open robot platform.

Leveraging Horizon Robotic's computational power and algorithms, the capabilities of Sunny OIT's diverse range of vision sensors are maximized across various robot terminals. As introduced by Mr. Xu, for handling three traditional Multi-Path Interference (MPI) scenarios, Sunny OIT leveraged the powerful BPU performance of Horizon Robotic's Sunrise® 3 chip to conduct deep learning optimizations, achieving extreme performance optimization tailored to different environments.

Leading the Industry: Continuous Evolution of Robot Perception

Sunny OIT has deep expertise in robot vision solutions, offering comprehensive coverage including VSLAM, AI vision, single/dual-line structured light vision, binocular vision, and TOF vision. The company maintains long-term collaborations with leading industry players. The vision sensor integrated into the Horizon Robotic developer platform combines a TOF sensor and an RGB sensor. The TOF sensor provides point cloud depth data, while the RGB sensor captures color information. Advanced algorithms fuse the data from both sensors to output a 3D color point cloud map.

This vision fusion sensor boasts advantages such as a compact size, wide field of view (FOV), high accuracy, and strong ambient light resistance. It enables high frame rates, low latency, and high reliability. Widely used in applications like floor-cleaning robots and commercial service robots, it meets requirements for obstacle avoidance, AI recognition, interaction, and path planning. Sunny OIT offers various solution formats, including module hardware and module + SDK integrated hardware-software packages, supporting highly customized development in optics, mechanics, hardware, and algorithms. This provides customers with tailored system solutions from application scenarios to hardware.

"As we navigate dynamic times with reverence, we remain steadfast in our commitment to a promising future. We believe we will ultimately join hands to usher in a more prosperous tomorrow for the robotics industry," stated Wang Cong, General Manager of Horizon's AIoT & General Robotics Business Unit. Like Horizon Robotic and other industry leaders, Sunny OIT is committed to contributing to the infrastructure development of the robotics era, collaborating with more partners to build a flourishing ecosystem, further opening the doors of the robotics industry, and collectively advancing towards a brighter "tomorrow."

Looking ahead, Sunny OIT and Horizon Robotic will deepen collaboration in areas such as floor-cleaning robots, commercial service robots, and industrial robots. They will also partner in emerging vision fields like XR (Extended Reality), smart doors/locks, and smart displays.