Kudan Spatial Perception & Navigation Stack for Robots

Kudan Inc. is the Japan-based headquarters and holding company of the Kudan group, which began in 2011 as Kudan Limited in Bristol, UK. Kudan Inc. was established in 2014, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market in 2018 and acquired the Munich SLAM company Artisense in 2020. It provides spatial perception technology so robots and vehicles can localize and navigate in GPS-denied and changing environments.

Kudan's full-stack navigation software covers localization and mapping with camera, LiDAR, IMU and GNSS fusion, path planning and obstacle avoidance, semantic segmentation, task planning and replanning, system monitoring and simulation-based validation, running on ROS 2 (Humble, Jazzy) on x86 and ARM. Robot makers license it to move from proof of concept to production. Kudan also offers robotic inspection solutions and the Kudan PRISM digital twin platform.

• Localization and mapping: robust SLAM with camera, LiDAR, IMU and GNSS fusion.
• Autonomous navigation: path planning, obstacle avoidance, task planning and replanning.
• Semantic segmentation: scene recognition for adaptive and safe route selection.
• Multi-platform support: ROS 2 Humble and Jazzy on x86 and ARM architectures.
• Monitoring and validation: system monitoring, log management and simulation testing.
• Robotic inspection and digital twin: Physical AI inspection agents linked to Kudan PRISM.

• A Vietnamese AMR maker licensing the navigation stack for robots moving between factory buildings and outdoor yards.
• A mall or airport service robot navigating crowded spaces.
• An industrial park operator building inspection robots with digital twin integration.

• Shortens development lead time and lowers risk for robot makers moving from PoC to commercial deployment.
• Enables navigation where conventional AMRs struggle: changing layouts, mixed indoor-outdoor routes, crowds and long corridors.
• Sensor-agnostic fusion lets products use camera, LiDAR, IMU or GNSS as needed.
• Fills in-house expertise gaps in outdoor and complex autonomous navigation.

Physical AI needs reliable perception so robots can operate outside controlled spaces. Asian robot makers, including emerging AMR and robotics startups in Vietnam, increasingly license navigation stacks rather than build SLAM in-house, while factories and malls in the region need robots that cope with dynamic layouts and mixed indoor-outdoor routes.

Group founded in 2011 in Bristol, UK; Kudan Inc. established in Japan in 2014 and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market in 2018. Acquired Artisense (Munich) in 2020. CEO Daiu Ko. Collaborations with NVIDIA, NexAIoT, Vecow, NTT InfraNet, UCS (Korea) and MacroInsight (Taiwan); selected for a NEDO robotics platform project in 2025.