A compact new integrated electronics package will be the brains for the next generation of advanced smart drones.
Semiconductor giant Qualcomm QCOM +0.7% has long been known for innovation in the drone sector. Way back in 2015 – pretty much the Stone Age in drone history – it produced the Snapdragon Flight, a system-on-a-chip to bring advanced video handling, communication and navigation capability to small drones. Since then they have produced successive generations of more advanced technology; it says something that the Qualcomm Flight drives the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars.
“Qualcomm has 200-plus drone customers and if you’re coming across a drone or robot – it’s likely powered by Qualcomm’s robotics and drone technology,” says Dev Singh, General Manager of Robotics, Drones and Intelligent Machines at Qualcomm.
Their latest release announced this week is the Flight RB5 5G Platform. This is another credit-card-sized device which packs all the technology needed for high-end drone operations into a single unit. As the name indicates, it has 5G connectivity – their launch slogan is ‘5G Takes Flight’ – which represents a powerful new way of communicating with drones over existing networks. But perhaps more significantly, the platform has features enabling autonomous operations, which may largely remove the need for the drone to communicate at all during a mission.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2021/08/19/new-qualcomm-release-to-drive-next-gen-smart-drones/?sh=b4b90103f979
Semiconductor giant Qualcomm QCOM +0.7% has long been known for innovation in the drone sector. Way back in 2015 – pretty much the Stone Age in drone history – it produced the Snapdragon Flight, a system-on-a-chip to bring advanced video handling, communication and navigation capability to small drones. Since then they have produced successive generations of more advanced technology; it says something that the Qualcomm Flight drives the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars.
“Qualcomm has 200-plus drone customers and if you’re coming across a drone or robot – it’s likely powered by Qualcomm’s robotics and drone technology,” says Dev Singh, General Manager of Robotics, Drones and Intelligent Machines at Qualcomm.
Their latest release announced this week is the Flight RB5 5G Platform. This is another credit-card-sized device which packs all the technology needed for high-end drone operations into a single unit. As the name indicates, it has 5G connectivity – their launch slogan is ‘5G Takes Flight’ – which represents a powerful new way of communicating with drones over existing networks. But perhaps more significantly, the platform has features enabling autonomous operations, which may largely remove the need for the drone to communicate at all during a mission.
Continue reading: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2021/08/19/new-qualcomm-release-to-drive-next-gen-smart-drones/?sh=b4b90103f979
