Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced today their new platform, the Qualcomm Robotics RB3 Platform. The new platform will help manufacturers and developers to create the next generation of advanced consumer, enterprise, and industrial robotics products. The Robotics platform is based on the Qualcomm SDA/SDM845 system-on-chip.
The platform aims at binding together key capabilities such as high-performance heterogeneous computing, 4G/LTE connectivity, a Qualcomm AI Engine for on-device machine learning and computer vision, hi-fidelity sensor processing for perception, and odometry for localization, mapping, and navigation, vault-like security, and Wi-Fi connectivity.
Our technologies are at the heart of a wide array of robotics products available today, from companion robots including Anki Vector, Elli Q and Sony Aibo, to multimedia robots like Cerevo Tripon and Keecker, to labor-saving machines such as robotic vacuum cleaners from iRobot, Ecovacs, and Panasonic. With the Qualcomm Robotics RB3 Platform, we aim to bring our cutting-edge AI, edge compute and connectivity technologies into the hands of many more robotics innovators to help spur the fast development and commercialization of a new generation of useful and intelligent robots in agriculture, consumer, delivery, inspection, service, smart manufacturing/Industry 4.0, warehousing and logistics, and other applications. -Dev Singh, the director of business development and head of autonomous robotics, drones and intelligent machines at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
The platform supports Linux and Robot Operating System, and provides support for the Qualcomm Neural Processing software development kit (SDK) for advanced on-device AI, the Qualcomm Computer Vision Suite, and the Qualcomm Hexagon DSP SDK, and Amazon’s AWS RoboMaker, with plans for Ubuntu Linux support.
The development kit also includes the DragonBoard 845c development board, a connectivity board, an image camera for a superb hi-res photo, 4K video capture and AI-assisted detection and recognition of people and objects, a tracking camera for path planning and obstacle avoidance using visual simultaneous localization and mapping (slam), a stereo camera for navigation; and a time-of-flight camera for people, gesture and object detection even in low light conditions.
The main technical features of the platforms include heterogeneous computing architecture, Qualcomm AI Engine, dual 14-bit Qualcomm Spectra 20 ISP camera and video, high level of security, robust sensor and microphone support, and integrated 4G/LTE and CBRS support.
We are delighted to be working with Qualcomm Technologies to help developers easily build intelligent robotics functions using AWS cloud services and then deploy their application onto a commercial grade, scalable hardware platform. Our collaboration is designed to give robotics developers a complete cloud-to-the-edge solution, accelerating development, providing intelligence out of the box, and easing robotic lifecycle management. – Roger Barga, the GM of AWS Robotics and Automation Services, Amazon Web Services, Inc.
“As the creators of BrainOS, the leading solution for the development, deployment, and management of mobile robots, we’re excited to see Qualcomm Technologies get involved in the space in a major way,” said Dr. Jean Baptiste Passot, VP of Platform and AI, Brain Corp. “We’ve expanded BrainOS to be optimized with the Qualcomm SDM845 and look forward to exploring the potential of the Qualcomm Robotics RB3 Platform for our future products.”
JD.com believes that the combination of industry and technology can create infinite possibilities for digitalization. We look forward to the new generation of Qualcomm Technologies’ Robotics Platform, which will help us develop more efficient and intelligent service robots through advanced technologies such as deep learning algorithms. – Yazhuo Wang, the General Manager of Innovation Product Department, JD.com IoT Business Group
OrionStar too is excited to see the launch of the new Robotics platform. Products based on the new Robotics platform will be available on the market from 2019 and a development kit based on the platform is already available for purchase from Thundercomm.