Qualcomm boosts robotics with next-gen RB6 Platform

Qualcomm announced its next-gen Robotics RB6 Platform for greater autonomy for delivery robots, urban air mobility aircraft and autonomous defense, among other applications.

The company also announced its RB5 autonomous mobile robot reference design, relying on the previous generation robotics platform now being widely deployed.

The new RB6 updates its predecessor RB5, which launched in June 2020, with many times the TOPS processing power for AI. The RB6 supported 15 TOPS, but the latest design supports 70 to 200 TOPS.

The upgrade also supports mmWave 5G connectivity in addition to sub-6GHz for use in mainstream, enterprise, and private networks.

With increased potential for compute and AI, the platform and chip will cost more and support higher-tier robotics applications, said Dev Singh, senior director of business development and head of autonomous robotics, drones and intelligent machines.

“The use cases are going to be many and they will evolve,” Singh told reporters and analysts. “This will unleash innovation for industries. It is just the beginning of the next wave in robotics.”

The predecessor RB5 has already been deployed in millions of devices, he said, mentioning unmanned aerial vehicles and drones. In China, SwifBot delivery robots from Pudu running RB5 traverse around restaurants and a new quadruped robot "dog" version can walk up stairs to potentially reach apartments with deliveries, Singh said.

Qualcomm's RB5 drone reference design is available for pre-sale now through ModalAI for $4,000.

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