Vantage Robotics Announces Vision2, A Universal Robotics Controller

October 24, 2023

Available now

SAN LEANDRO, CA – October 16, 2023 – Vantage Robotics announces the launch of the Vision2 Universal Robotics Controller. Vision2 offers the first high performance and economical solution for controlling a wide range of robots including drones, ground robots, and water vehicles. Created as part of the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit’s Soldier Robotic Controller Program, Vision2 has been designed to meet the DoD’s needs for a universal robotic controller. It is available now to select customers worldwide.Vision2 offers significant advances in performance, security, modularity, and value, based on its unique integrated design and our team’s decades of experience with mobile electronics.  To learn more about what Vision2 can do, visit here.

Key Vision2 Features:

1. Trusted: NDAA and TAA compliant, DIU Blue List, AES-256 encryption
2. Capable: 2500 nit daylight viewable screen, 15 TOPS of AI compute power, onboard GPS, 14 tactile buttons and controls
3. Portable: Lightweight 625 gram design, robust magnesium body
4. Flexible: DoD-standard Swappable Radio Module (SRM), run custom APKs with custom Android 10 OS

“We’ve had the privilege of becoming friends with many leaders in the robotics industry, which has given us serious respect for the number of brilliant people working in this space and the mind-bendingly hard challenges they are solving,” says Vantage Robotics CEO, Tobin Fisher. “We made Vision2 for these friends and colleagues, to take one challenge off their plate, as many robots don’t need custom controllers. Vision2 lets robotics companies focus on their key innovations and offer their customers the best possible user experience.”

Vijay Santhakumar, VP of Hardware, led the project. His background developing the Motorola Xoom, the first Android tablet ever, gave us the experience needed to take on this complex challenge of designing a mobile computer from the ground up. 

Making a fully custom mobile computer was significantly more challenging than the traditional approach for robotics controllers of wrapping sticks around an off the shelf tablet, but this let us create a final product that is both higher performance and lower cost than anything currently available. Specifically, we could utilize a screen designed for outdoor use that is 5x brighter than available tablets, make a device that is half the size and weight and less expensive than current options by dropping the redundant tablet parts, and modify the operating system. This control over the operating system, not possible with OTS tablets, helped us enable faster boot times, night vision goggle compatibility, and make the product security scan ready for DoD customers. 

Vision2 Compatibility: 

Vision2 supports open standards like USB-C, Mavlink, RAS-A, RAS-G, and Android, software built by others (including ATAK, QGroundControl, Autodyne Nexus, and RAC2), and radio modules built by others. Vision2 is designed to be a platform for others to build upon and innovate within.

Mobile Robotics Industry: The mobile robotics industry is growing rapidly with immense value being created in diverse applications from agriculture to defense and everything in between. This  convinced us to invest for the long term and support a growing market with the value needed to reach more customers. We built a mobile computer from the ground up from a best-in-class screen and processor resulting in a high performance and lower cost product. 

Product Testing: This effort shone as Vantage completed the final rigorous testing for with the DoD in the hands of soldiers ready to dish out abuse to ensure suitability for the DoD’s most demanding applications. The company was thrilled to see the hard work pay off as Vision2 performed flawlessly to their exacting requirements.

About Vantage Robotics: 

Silicon Valley-based Vantage Robotics makes UAVs and enabling technology that support national security, aid public safety, and maintain critical infrastructure for government and commercial customers including the FBI, DHS, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, NASA, DEA, DOJ, and CNN. 

For more information: https://vantagerobotics.com/about/

You can reach us at contact@vantagerobotics.com