New Qualcomm 5G platform to create next-gen robots, drones

Chipmaker Qualcomm has unveiled a new 5G and AI-enabled robotics platform that would help developers and manufacturers create next generation of high-compute, low-power robots and drones for the consumer, enterprise, defense, industrial and professional service sectors.

The Qualcomm ‘Robotics RB5' platform is comprised of an extensive set of hardware, software and development tools.

Currently, over 30 companies are developing necessary hardware and software to enable various robotics applications with this platform that includes Autocore, Autoware Foundation, Intel RealSense, Open Robotics, Panasonic and others.

"With the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform, Qualcomm will help accelerate growth in a wide array of robotics segments such as autonomous mobile robots (AMR), delivery, inspection, inventory, industrial, collaborative robots and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)," explained Dev Singh, senior director, business development and head of autonomous robotics, drones and intelligent machines, Qualcomm.

According to the company, the ‘QRB5165' robotics processor enables AI, ML, enhanced computer vision, multi-camera concurrency with advanced ISPs, while supporting industrial-grade temperature range and security at every layer.

With support for 4G and 5G connectivity speeds via a companion module, the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform helps pave the way for the proliferation of 5G in robotics and intelligent systems.

To enable the next generation of robotics solutions and designs, Qualcomm Technologies has entered into a strategic collaboration with TDK to further enhance the capabilities of the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform.

TDK has added their latest state of the art sensor technologies for enhanced robotics applications as part of the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform, said the company.

For high power computing performance, the processor integrates Octa Core Qualcomm Kryo 585 CPU, powerful Qualcomm Adreno 650 GPU, multiple DSPs (compute, audio and sensor) and ISPs.

It also contains a dedicated, powerful AI engine, which includes the Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, and dedicated computer vision hardware block.