News Release
VIA Drives Emergence of New Personal Robotics Market
with Innovative new PC-Bots from White Box Robotics
and RoboDynamics
New PC-Bot products from White Box Robotics and RoboDynamics
based on VIA EPIA Mini-ITX Mainboard cater to the growing
personal robotics market
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 19 November 2003 - VIA Technologies,
Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip
technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced
that it is showcasing two exciting new PC-Bots, the
912 from White Box Robotics and the IO from RoboDynamics,
at a private press event held in Las Vegas this week.
PC-Bots are a rapidly emerging new category of devices
that bridge the gap between the PC and conventional
robots by leveraging the unrivaled power, flexibility,
and compatibility of the x86 architecture to enable
the integration of advanced functionality and intelligence,
including human-like senses such as vision processing,
audio processing, and the ability to interact with people
and other devices and detect environmental changes.
Based on the VIA EPIA Mini-ITX mainboard platform,
PC-Bots are opening up exciting new possibilities for
product design innovation in a diverse range of applications,
including mobile music DJs, home and office security
guards, and patient care assistants. The 912 from White
Box Robotics, for example, is a stunning-looking PC-Bot
that can move around the house and allows people to
enjoy their home digital entertainment content, such
as listening to MP3 songs.
"PC-Bots are an exciting new way to experience
and connect the entertainment and home automation features
that are becoming mainstream," declared Timothy
Brown, Robotics Program Manager for VIA Technologies,
Inc. "These exciting new designs from White Box
Robotics and RoboDynamics clearly illustrate the enormous
potential for innovation within this new market category."
"Our nine series of robots allows anyone who can
operate a PC the chance to own an attractive and functional
personal robot," said Thomas J. Burick, President
of White Box Robotics. "The 912 is designed with
an industry standard approach to robot building. Almost
all of the components used in the 912 are standard off-the-shelf
computer parts. Any computer store in the world becomes
your own personal robot parts bin. VIA's Mini-ITX mainboard
allows this to happen by providing an ultra compact
yet powerful mainboard to build upon."
"We believe that over the next few years you will
begin to see personal robotics take off and go through
a tremendous growth phase equaling that of the PC industry
during the 90s" says Fred Nikgohar, Chairman and
CEO of RoboDynamics. "The VIA motherboard gives
us a robust and standardized platform that allows a
fast time-to-market as well as a plethora of existing
development tools already existing for the x86 chip
family."
VIA EPIA Mainboards Powering the Robotics Revolution
VIA EPIA Mini-ITX mainboards are already being utilized
in the design and development of pioneering robotics
projects by a number of organizations and educational
groups, including the Stanford Research Institute (SRI)
mapping and surveillance Centibots project, the University
of Manitoba's Autonomous Agents Lab and several autonomous
race vehicle teams competing in the DARPA Grand Challenge,
including Team LoGHIQ.
Autonomous vehicles are sophisticated mobile robots
that traverse land, sea and air under the guidance of
their own internal artificial intelligence. Typically
they require robust, low power computing platforms to
act as the complex software control environments that
run the mechanical movement instructions, sensors, positioning,
and navigation equipment that enable their independent
operation.
Robot Petting Zoo at Lunch@Piero's
VIA will be hosting a panel discussion on today's
commercial robot business opportunities at the Lunch@Piero's
press-only tech event held in Las Vegas, opposite the
Las Vegas Convention Center, from Monday to Tuesday,
18-19 November 2003. Speakers from VIA, Carnegie-Mellon,
Robotic Trends, Evolution Robotics, RoboteQ will lead
the panel while White Box Robotics and RoboDynamics
will unveil their exciting new product offerings at
this time. A robot "Petting Zoo" demo area
at the event will showcase the functionality and innovation
of wide variety of robots based on VIA platforms.
About VIA in Robotics
The VIA Robotics Initiative is the first phase of
VIA's efforts to promote PC architecture and VIA platforms
for the robotics industry. By working together on projects
of all levels with the academic, commercial and enthusiast
communities with existing VIA EPIA-Series mainboards,
VIA is validating design strategies. Strategies that
are highly applicable for today's robot markets while
laying the groundwork for platform advances that will
continue to progress the future development of robot-specific
technologies and products into mainstream markets.
The VIA Robotics Initiative plays an important role
for defining the longer-term direction of VIA's "Total
Connectivity" message. Robot and PC industry watchers
can expect to see a series of projects and product announcements
over the next year.
For more details about the VIA Robotics initiative
please visit the VIA website at:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/robotics/robotics.jsp
About the VIA EPIA M10000 Mini-ITX Mainboard
The VIA EPIA M10000 Mini-ITX mainboard is the second-generation
17cm x 17cm platform optimized for today's killer digital
video, audio and more complex processor intensive applications.
In addition to its integrated 1GHz VIA C3 processor,
the board features the VIA CLE266 chipset with embedded
MPEG-2 decoder and a new integrated 2D/3D graphics engine
to ensure smooth DVD playback and a rich overall entertainment
experience. With the sizable memory bandwidth of DDR266
SDRAM and the high data transfer speeds of ATA-133,
the VIA EPIA M10000 ensures the high performance levels
required of today's most popular digital media and productivity
applications. The user's digital media experience is
further enhanced by support for 5.1 surround sound,
courtesy of the onboard VIA Vinyl Six-TRAC Audio.
The latest in high-bandwidth connectivity is supported
with IEEE 1394 and USB2.0 connections, as well as S-Video
and RCA TV-Out (NTSC & PAL) and 10/100 Mbps Fast
Ethernet for seamless broadband connectivity. The VIA
EPIA M-Series also offers support for a growing number
of LVDS embedded LCD panels, has a PCI slot for expandability
options, and is compatible with a full range of Mini-ITX
chassis as well as FlexATX and MicroATX enclosures.
It is also compatible with Microsoft® Windows®
2K/ME/XP and a variety of Linux-based operating systems.
The VIA EPIA M10000 Mini-ITX mainboard is available
in volume now from VIA's global distribution partners
listed here: http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=242,
including leading US online stores www.mwave.com,
www.newegg.com,
and www.outpost.com,
at an estimated retail price of US$199. For more information
on the full range of VIA EPIA M-Series Mini-ITX mainboards
please visit:
www.viaembedded.com/product/epia_m_spec.jsp?motherboardId=81
About White Box Robotics
White Box Robotics is a group of visionaries with
their sights set on dynamic commercial robotic products.
White Box Robotics mission is to become an industry
leader and innovator of PC based mobile robotic platforms
for the entertainment, educational, and personal robotics
industry.
For more information about White Box Robotics, please
visit the website:
http://www.whiteboxrobotics.com
About Robodynamics
Founded in September 2003, RoboDynamics is a provider
of personal, entertainment and productivity robotics.
Our vision is a near future where mobile and stationary
intelligent devices interact with people and allow them
to perform everyday tasks in ways that are more efficient,
intriguing, and productive.
For more information about RoboDynamics, please visit:
http://www.robodynamics.com
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