Qualcomm launched a 5G and AI-ready drone platform on Tuesday called the Flight RB5 platform that builds on a QRB5165 robotics processor.
A reference design is available for pre-sale from ModalAI and a development kit is expected in the fourth quarter, Qualcomm said. Pricing was not announced.
Qualcomm won endorsements from a variety of drone and robotics providers, along with major carriers including AT&T, Verizon and China Unicom, among others.
The capabilities with 5G, Wi-Fi 6 and AI will enhance autonomy and intelligence to allow flying at beyond visual line of sight, useful for inspections of cell towers, factories and for construction and related industries.
Everguard.ai is already seeing drones used to capture images for topographic mapping along with security and equipment tracking when used in combination with IoT sensors deployed at construction sites, the company said.
Mitre called the drone platform a “game changer” in a statement. “The platform brings advanced intelligence to autonomous decisions, enabling detect and avoid [manuevers] even beyond networking connectivity,” said Rakesh Kushwaha, managing director of Mitre’s open generation program called Mitre-Engenuity.
Qualcomm is working with Verizon to complete network testing of the platform for use on its 5G network to be offered in the Verizon Thingspace Marketplace. The RB5 Platform is 5G mmWave capable.
One primary feature of the drone platform includes a Qualcomm Secure Processing Unit to provide cybersecurity protections, said Dev Singh, general manager of autonomous robotics, drones and intelligent machines at Qualcomm.
In an interview with Fierce Electronics, Singh said the drone platform’s chipset builds on a Snapdragon 800 chipset which is customized for robotics and has higher temperature ratings and is covered by Qualcomm support continuity for up to 10 years of durability.
He said beyond visual line of site deployments with the platform are already being conducted under special waivers from the Federal Aviation Administration in rural areas partly to be able to advise future regulations.
“The value and use cases [of drones] are being unlocked,” Singh said. He noted that a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor is being used successfully aboard the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, which has recently achieved its 11th flight on the Red Planet.
Singh envisions drones being more widely deployed for package delivery and difficult tasks such as inspections of wind turbines where drones can do the work quicker and more safely than by deploying helicopters or cranes.
Qualcomm does not anticipate making its own commercial drone. The reference design can be used for a quad-copter design, but can be adjusted for a fixed wing design as well among other adaptations.
RELATED: Drone helicopter lands on Mars attached to belly of Perseverance rover