WHILL and 5D Robotics Collaborate to Accelerate Autonomous Personal Mobility Development

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 11, 2016) - WHILL, Inc. (WHILL) announced today its collaboration with 5D Robotics, Inc. (5D). 5D's deep software talent and rapid development capabilities will help accelerate WHILL's development of autonomous personal mobility technology for its flagship device, Model A.

"Fully autonomous personal mobility devices can bring our B2B customers enormous benefits in terms of greater convenience, lower cost and improved safety for their mobility services," said WHILL founder and CEO, Satoshi Sugie.

5D has fitted the Model A with engineered software behaviors to deliver precise navigation using its Ultrawideband (UWB) sensors for reliable and safe autonomous use. The first public demonstration is scheduled to take place at the RoboUniverse Conference & Expo in New York, April 1112, 2016.

WHILL's autonomous personal mobility project is currently preparing to engage with intelligent mobility markets such as smart cities, hospitals, airports, campuses, resorts, and the hospitality industry.

"5D's commitment to autonomous vehicles is inspiring, deliberate, and completely in line with our vision to make sidewalk transportation safer and more accessible," said Sugie. "We are excited to be partnering with 5D and believe this is a groundbreaking and necessary step toward rapidly commercializing autonomous personal mobility technology."

David Bruemmer, CEO and cofounder of 5D Robotics, added: "The collaboration vehicle we created for RoboUniverse 2016 in NYC will demonstrate the integration of 5D Hardware and Software to facilitate the autonomous behavior and precise navigation. With a combination of UWB tags, Lidar and other sensors and 5D's patented behaviors, the Model A can follow behind a person, animal or vehicle along a predefined path, a behavior 5D refers to as Virtual Rail. In addition, by allowing the vehicle to communicate with other vehicles ("V2V") and the infrastructure ("V2I"), safety, reliability, and predictive mobility increases and data collection applications become possible. Further vehicle integration designs are in review, and integration into airports, campuses, shopping centers, communities and last/first mile are all practical applications. We intend to further grow the technology base and capabilities already established by the WHILL team."

Founded in 2013, WHILL has moved quickly to develop, test, and distribute personal mobility devices in the U.S. and Japanese markets. The collaboration with 5D is WHILL's latest step toward its goal of redefining the future of personal mobility. 

About WHILL, Inc. 
WHILL, Inc., located in San Francisco, California, is a personal mobility device company founded in 2013 by former Nissan, Sony, and Olympus engineers and designers. WHILL's mission is to make transportation smart and fun for everybody. For more information, please visit: www.whill.us. 

About 5D Robotics, Inc. 
5D Robotics, Inc., located in Carlsbad, California, is a leader in the development of technologies that provide extremely accurate position and navigation, as well as industry leading obstacle avoidance and guarded motion systems that work in any environment, including those without GPS. 5D's technologies have been rigorously tested on over 30 robots and vehicles in military applications, and are now being adapted by numerous large commercial users. For more information, please visit: www.5drobotics.com.