K-Team SA is a young, expanding and flexible company founded in 1995 by research engineers of the Microcomputing Laboratory (LAMI) of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL) who formed a mobile robotics research group in 1992.

Driver for its foundation was the creation of a more stable and commercial future for the technology transfer of research and development for mobile robots based on the expansive experience generated at the EPFL.

The combination of industrial quality and university know-how ensures reliable miniaturised implementations in mechanics and control and has lead to a number of industrial and technology awards.

It has lead to the world-wide selling of more than 400 Khepera micro-robots to over 200 international research institutes, making them the leading European company in micro-robotics also in Japan.

As a follow-on, the Koala robot is developed from the same controller implementation, but with a larger structure allowing for more enhanced implementations like a vacuum cleaning robot breadboard.

K-Team SA's capabilities extend to:

• Documentation:
  There is a complete documentation for every development.
• Reliability and Robustness:
  All modules of the Khepera line have been tested successfully during several months of non-stop operation.
• Quality Control:
  All the products are tested in detail and a check list is generated.
• Support:
  All products are fully supported for more than one year.

The distribution network is based on companies specialised in the field of mobile robotics and selling also robots of other companies. These large networks of distributors and customers give K-Team SA a good knowledge of the existing devices and current know-how in mobile robotics. Close contacts and collaboration exist with about 10 European research groups (in Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy and Switzerland) and regularly with more than 25 other groups. Outside Europe, K-Team SA has several contacts in Japan and in the USA. These last being essentially related with space activity, due to a collaboration with the NASA based on both the Khepera and the Koala robots.

As for the facilities, K-Team SA is well equipped for the design and test of mobile robots. The manufacture is given to other companies that guarantee a good quality work. K-Team SA is well placed in Switzerland, the area of watch industry, and knows in detail the facilities available in this region.

The Founders of K-Team SA

• Edo Franzi
  Designer of the electronics and software of Khepera and of the additional modules as well as of Koala
• Francesco Mondada
  Designer and user of the environment and contact of the K-Team SA
• André Guignard
  Watchmaker and designer of the mechanical parts of Khepera and of the additional modules as well as of Koala
• Yves Cheneval
  Designer of the software research tools and responsable for the PackLIB visualisation and analysis tool
• Jean-Daniel Nicoud
  Professor of the LAMI and initiator of the mobile robotic activity at the EPFL
• Claude Touzet
  One of the first users and co-author of the user manual of Khepera.

The Actual Staff working at K-Team SA

• Edo Franzi
  Responsible for development and production of our products
• Francesco Mondada
  Responsible for the management and marketing side of our business
• Yves Cheneval
  Responsable for the PackLIB software project
• Martial Petter
  Production manager and supporting our mechnical developemnts
• Thomas Le Minh Bach
  Responsible for production implementation

K-Team SA has accumulated comprehensive experience in the design, prototyping and production of the miniature mobile robot Khepera and all its accessories.

This experience includes:

• Mechanical Design
• Optic Design (optic for cameras)
• Sensor Design (mainly proximity and distance sensors)
• Electronic (both digital and analog) Design
• Microprocessor Systems Design
• Power Supply Management
• Accurate Motor Control
• General Mobile Robot Control Software

The members of K-Team SA have among others been working on:

• Legged Mobile Robots
  Two complete legged mobile robots have been designed and a prototype has been manufactured. The first robot has a simplified mechanical structure, based on 5 degrees of freedom. The second robot has 13 degrees of freedom (2 for each leg, and one on the body) and is controlled by an electronic board and a software based on the electronics and the software of Khepera.
• Mobile Robots for Applications such as Floor Cleaning and Mine Research
  The Koala robot has been used as basic platform for an automatic vacuum cleaner. The robotic mine research and clearance is actually a development of the LAMI. First prototypes of demining robots have been based on the Khepera hardware and software.
• Micro Mobile Robots
  A micro-robot of 1 cm3 of volume (including only the motors and the wheels) has been manufactured at the LAMI and got several prices in Japanese competitions.
• Remotely Controlled Mobile Robots
  Due to the contacts of EPFL with NASA, the group who developed Khepera and Koala has been involved in projects of virtual-reality based remote control. Also projects of remote control using Internet have been implemented, leading now to more performant communication networks (ATM).

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  Many thanks to Marcel Schoonmade of NLR that provided this text in the context of a foreseen possible cooperation...

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