New Qualcomm 5G platform to create next-gen robots, drones
5G and AI-enabled robotics
New generation of robots can be achieved by fifth generation of wireless technology, rather than wired communications links and exploiting the vast computing and data storage resources of the cloud, some free to roam controlled via wireless. Armed with these capabilities, robots can be connected to people and machines locally and globally, and be precisely controlled dynamically in near real time.
Qualcomm Brings 5G And AI To Next Gen Robotics And Drones
A new 5G and AI-enabled robotics platform has been unveiled by Chipmaker Qualcomm 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 consists of an extensive set of software, hardware and development tools.
To enable various robotics applications with this platform over 30 companies are developing necessary hardware and software currently. This includes Autocore, Intel RealSense, Autoware Foundation, Open Robotics, Panasonic and etc.
Qualcomm will help accelerate growth with the help of Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform in a wide array of robotics segments such as autonomous mobile robots (AMR), industrial, collaborative robots, delivery, inspection, inventory and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),” explained by Dev Singh who is the senior director, business development and head of autonomous robotics, drones and intelligent machines, Qualcomm.
Enhanced computer vision, multi-camera concurrency with advanced ISPs, AI, ML, while supporting industrial-grade temperature range and security at every layerwhich are enabled by ‘QRB5165’ robotics processor.
The Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform helps pave the way for the proliferation of 5G in robotics and intelligent systems with support for 4G and 5G connectivity speeds via a companion module.
Qualcomm Technologies has entered into a strategic collaboration with TDK to enable the next generation of robotics solutions and designs to further enhance the capabilities of the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform.
Latest state of the art sensor technologies has been added by TDK for enhanced robotics applications as part of the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform, said the company.
The processor integrates Octa Core Qualcomm Kryo 585 CPU, powerful Qualcomm Adreno 650 GPU, multiple DSPs (compute, audio and sensor) and ISPs for high power computing performance.
It also contains a dedicated, powerful AI engine, which includes the dedicated computer vision hardware block and the Hexagon Tensor Accelerator.
Giving Robots the Ability to Think, See and Communicate
Targeting drone designs and robots meant for enterprise, industrial and professional service applications, at the heart of the platform is Qualcomm’s QRB5165 system on chip (SOC) processor. The QRB5165 is derived from Snapdragon 865, a processor which is used in mobile devices, but customized for robotic applications with increased camera and image signal processor (ISP) capabilities for additional higher industrial grade temperature, camera sensors and security ratings and a non-Package-on-Package (POP) configuration option.
The chip is rated for 15 Tera Operations Per Second (TOPS) of AI performance to help bring highly capable artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to bear in these applications. Additionally, as it is critical that drones and robots can see their surroundings, and the architecture includes support for up to seven concurrent cameras and a dedicated computer vision engine to provide enhanced video analytics. In particular, with the addition of 5G to the platform, the high speed and low latency data connectivity to the drones or robots will be achieved.
Not All Robots Need Everything
Wide variety of requirements and use cases that need to be supported is one of the fundamental challenges that any solution aimed at industrial applications and machine face. As a result, solutions require the ability to be adaptable and flexible to specific configurations whilst still maintaining a degree of standardization. The RB5 platform puts this into practice using a mezzanine architecture of optional modules that can be used to build up the development kit depending on application specific needs. The platform allows for 6 different “mezzanine” options: Software, Vision, Sensor, Industrial, Motor and 5G.
Robots making an impact
Over 20 companies have already endorsed the use of the platform at the time of the announcement. This is in addition to over thirty ecosystem partners that they are working with to help enable OEMs to simplify design and development of robots and drones. Given this level of initial use and assuming continued adoption, Tirias Research expects that it should become clear how well the RB5 platform has performed against its promise of accelerating development of robots and drones within 12–18 months. It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic calls for increased remote interaction which should result in an explosive growth for drones demand and robotics. Such that, Tirias Research believes that this is only the first of many solutions across the ecosystem that will be aimed at using 5G and AI to unlock the potential for robots to act as the remote ears, eyes and hands of their human handlers.
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