FEATURE 01

Compact Body, Outstanding Terrain Performance

Light enough to carry with one hand (5.7 kg/unit), yet stable on farmland, rubble, sand, and slopes. Clears steps up to 9 cm and climbs grades up to 20°.

FEATURE 02

Up to 80 kg Payload Capacity

Despite its compact size, two units linked together support up to 80 kg. Proven as a development base for agricultural transport robots and heavy sensor-laden experimental platforms.

FEATURE 03

Highly Expandable & Customizable

Standard aluminum extrusion frame lets you reconfigure freely. Swap frames and motors to match your research goals or sensor layout. Use any ESC for control — autonomous operation with ArduPilot-compatible flight controllers has also been demonstrated.

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Long-range wireless control of CuGo V3 using drone-grade ELRS

To extend the range of a standard RC transmitter (roughly 30 m in real-world testing), we implemented ELRS — a long-range wireless protocol built for drones — together with a BetaFPV receiver and an M5Stack Atom S3. Converting CRSF signals into RC servo PWM to drive the ESC enabled long-range wireless control of the unit.

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Autonomous outdoor navigation switching between GNSS and SLAM

Competed in Tsukuba Challenge 2023 using a V3-based ROS development kit. Generated maps with 2D LIDAR SLAM and completed an outdoor course — including roofed areas — by switching between GNSS and AMCL localization.

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Autonomous ground-penetrating radar robot for missing-person searches and infrastructure inspection

Led by Prof. Jun Sonoda. An AI-equipped robot navigates autonomously via GNSS while scanning with a ground-penetrating radar. Field trials were conducted at the Fukushima Robot Test Field, Abukuma River levee, and Katsushima municipal road as part of a Cabinet Office "Michibiki" demonstration project.

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The stable drive system on sloped farmland was the deciding factor

A camera-based system detects and follows a worker wearing red clothing, freeing both hands throughout the task. The V3's stability on sloped farmland made it the platform of choice.

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Drone technology transferred directly to a ground robot

Equipped with APM 2.6 / ArduPilot, the robot completed a 7-waypoint mission over 5 laps using standalone GPS. Drone expertise was repurposed for ground robotics in a short development cycle.

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Selected as the new standard platform for a 30-year robotics education program

Enables real experiments on indoor and outdoor steps and uneven terrain. Chosen as the 5th-generation standard platform for the MIRS program, thanks to its flexible integration with Raspberry Pi and Arduino.

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CuGo was invaluable for getting a prototype up and running fast

Developed an autonomous robot to automate herbicide spraying. The platform enabled rapid prototyping, and scaling from remote control to full autonomy was straightforward.

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The track was easy to modify — I could mount custom rollers right away

Used four V3 units to build an original "omni-crawler." The result is an omnidirectional crawler that slides forward, backward, and sideways without changing orientation, while still clearing steps.

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The 80 kg payload and off-road capability made agricultural robot development a reality

Developed TANG, a grape transport robot for a Yamanashi orchard. A depth camera enables automatic worker-following, eliminating heavy lifting entirely. The compact form factor suited for narrow farm paths was key.