Fudan Team Unveils 'Danbao' Errand Robot With Vision-Based On-Device Brain

On October 12, at the 26th China International Industry Fair, researchers from Fudan University unveiled “Danbao,” an errand robot equipped with a pure-vision end-side brain. Zhang Tianzi, a postdoctoral researcher at Fudan's School of Future Information Innovation, said the technology frees robots from their reliance on pre-built maps, allowing real-time spatial understanding and autonomous decision-making from visual perception alone on an end-side chip that consumes less than 20 watts.

Zhang noted that robots have traditionally depended on remote control, pre-programmed trajectories, or pre-mapped environments, all of which require external setup before operation. When surroundings or tasks change, the robot usually needs reprogramming or remapping. With the end-side brain, the robot can directly understand the space it perceives and act accordingly, shifting the underlying paradigm of robot autonomy from preset dependence to self-directed understanding.

The research team is adapting the system for delivery, inspection, and commercial cleaning robots, and is also working on parallel adaptation for domestic end-side computing chips. According to the team, its roadmap runs from spatial intelligence to task intelligence and then to general-purpose end-side intelligence, helping robots move from autonomous navigation to autonomous task completion and, eventually, to understanding intent and continuous evolution.