Qualcomm® Robotics RB5 Platform Delivers Cutting-Edge Connectivity and Power Efficient Inferencing at the Edge for AI and Machine Learning (ML) The Platform Facilitates Accelerated Development of Innovative, Power-Efficient, High Computing Robots and Drones for Enterprise, Industrial and Professional Service Applications Qualcomm® QRB5165 Robotics Processor Enables AI, ML, Heterogeneous Computing, Enhanced Computer Vision, Multi-Camera Concurrency with Advanced ISPs, While Supporting Industrial-Grade Temperature Range and Security at Every Layer
Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., today announced the Qualcomm® Robotics RB5 platform – the Company’s most advanced, integrated, comprehensive offering designed specifically for robotics. Building on the successful Qualcomm® Robotics RB3 platform and its broad adoption in a wide array of robotics and drone products available today, the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform is comprised of an extensive set of hardware, software and development tools. The Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform is the first of its kind to bring together the Company’s deep expertise in 5G and AI to empower developers and manufacturers to create the next generation of high-compute, low-power robots and drones for the consumer, enterprise, defense, industrial and professional service sectors – and the comprehensive Qualcomm Robotics RB5 Development Kit helps ensure developers have the customization and flexibility they need to make their visions a commercial reality. To date, Qualcomm Technologies has engaged many leading companies that have endorsed the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform, including 20+ early adopters in the process of evaluating the platform (see endorsement quotes below). Additionally, 30+ ecosystem players are developing necessary hardware and software to enable various robotics applications; these include the following companies: 96Boards, Acontis, ADLINK, AirMap, AirServe, Airtonomy, AlwaysAI, Augmented Pixels, Autocore, Autoware Foundation, Canonical, DeepEdge.ai, DreamVu, Dronecode, Fractal.ai, GlobalEdge, Innominds Software, InOrbit, Intel RealSense, Lantronix, Linaro, LiteOn, Kudan, ModalAI, Nod, Open Robotics, Panasonic, PathPartners, Pilot.AI, Shoreline IoT, SLAMCORE, TDK, Thundercomm, and Tier IV.
The platform’s Qualcomm QRB5165 processor, customized for robotics applications, offers a powerful heterogeneous computing architecture coupled with the leading fifth-generation Qualcomm® AI Engine delivering 15 Tera Operations Per Second (TOPS) of AI performance for running complex AI and deep learning workloads. The processor also offers incredible machine learning (ML) inferencing at the edge under restricted power budgets using the new Qualcomm® Hexagon™ Tensor Accelerator (HTA), a powerful image signal processor (ISP) with support for seven concurrent cameras, and a dedicated computer vision engine for enhanced video analytics (EVA). 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.
With the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform and the Qualcomm QRB5165 processor, the Company enables various design offerings including off-the-shelf system-on-module solutions and flexible chip-on-board designs. The solution is available in multiple options, including commercial and industrial-grade temperature ranges and an option for extended lifecycle until 2029.
“Qualcomm Technologies is the world’s leading wireless technology innovator with a strong foundation in AI, mobile computing and connectivity. By applying its deep-rooted mobile systems expertise to the robotics industry, Qualcomm Technologies is helping to enable the creation of more powerful, secure, and intelligent robots than ever before,” said Dev Singh, senior director, business development and head of autonomous robotics, drones and intelligent machines, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “With the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform, Qualcomm Technologies 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), enabling Industry 4.0 robotics use cases, and laying the foundation for the UAV Traffic Management (UTM) space.”
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 and they have been instrumental in providing world class sensor solutions and motor control hardware.
Qualcomm Robotics RB5 Development Kit
Key Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform technical features include:
- Powerful Heterogeneous Computing Capabilities: For high power computing performance, the Qualcomm QRB5165 processor of Qualcomm RB5 Platform 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 (EnhancedVideo Analytics engine)
- 5th Generation Qualcomm AI Engine: New dedicated Hexagon Tensor Accelerator is based on the leading fifth-generation Qualcomm Artificial Intelligence Engine, delivering a whopping 15 TOPS of AI performance with high AI and ML inferencing.
- Advanced Imaging Capability:Qualcomm Spectra™ 480 Image Signal Processor (ISP) captures fast, professional-quality photos and videos, and can process 2 Gigapixels per second. This Gigapixel speed supports superior camera features, including Dolby Vision video capture, 8K video recording (at 30 FPS) and 200-megapixel photos, and simultaneously captures 4K HDR video (at 120 FPS) and 64 MP photos with zero shutter lag. The hardware accelerator utilizes the Engine for Video Analytics (EVA) to handle all Computer Vision (CV) tasks. Additional ISP features include HEIF photo capture, slow motion video capture, and advanced video capture formats (including Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HEVC and HLG). Seven concurrent cameras facilitate simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), object detection and classification, autonomous navigation and path planning to efficiently and safely perform tasks in complex indoor and outdoor settings.
- Security Support:The Qualcomm® Secure Processing Unit is designed to offer robust security without compromising power. The Qualcomm Secure Processing Unit includes secure boot, cryptographic accelerators, Qualcomm® Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) and camera security and is FIPS 140-2 certified. Additional security features include key provisioning security, malware protection, Qualcomm® Content Protection, Qualcomm® Mobile Security, Qualcomm® Processor Security, and secure token to support remote attestation and secure device provisioning. For advanced AI and ML security, the platform supports Biometric Authentication (including fingerprint, iris, voice, and face).
- Connectivity:The Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform supports long-range Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.1, and 4G and 5G, providing the highest level of connectivity available.
"Thundercomm is a world-leading IoT product and solution provider. With our years' experience and expertise in the fields of AI and IoT, we can provide proven end to end solutions to accelerate customers' development period and business cycle,” says Hiro Cai, chief executive officer, Thundercomm. “Together with Qualcomm Technologies, we have empowered our customers to design and manufacture intelligent robots in different industries. Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform, as an advanced 5G and AI-based robotics platform, meets the high demand of industry transformation, and promotes industrial upgrading. We are excited to cooperate with Qualcomm Technologies to create a wide array of robotics products for next generation.”
Commercial products based on the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform are expected to be available in 2020. For more information and to start developing products based on the platform, please visit the Qualcomm® Developer Network webpage and the Qualcomm Technologies’ product webpage. A development kit for the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform is available for pre-order now from Thundercomm’s webpage.
About Qualcomm
Qualcomm is the world’s leading wireless technology innovator and the driving force behind the development, launch, and expansion of 5G. When we connected the phone to the internet, the mobile revolution was born. Today, our foundational technologies enable the mobile ecosystem and are found in every 3G, 4G and 5G smartphone. We bring the benefits of mobile to new industries, including automotive, the internet of things, and computing, and are leading the way to a world where everything and everyone can communicate and interact seamlessly. Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of our engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of our products and services businesses, including our QCT semiconductor business.
About Thundercomm
Thundercomm, headquartered in San Diego, is a joint venture between Thunder Software Technology Co., Ltd and Qualcomm (Guizhou) Investment Co., Ltd. Thundercomm was established to accelerate innovation in the Internet of Things (IoT) and automotive industry, providing one-stop solutions powered by Qualcomm Technologies mobile and automotive platforms. Through its capabilities in operating systems including Android, Linux, and others, a broad software and on-device AI technology portfolio acquired from ThunderSoft, and a global sales and support network, Thundercomm is a valuable and trusted partner to global customers aiming to build high-quality, next-generation products and shorten time-to-commercialization. Learn more at www.thundercomm.com