Qualcomm has incorporated artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G in its latest robotics hardware/software platform called Robotics RB5.
The chip giant says RB5 is now being evaluated by 20 robot makers. It is powered by the QRB5165 processor and comes about a year after the RB3 platform was launched. Qualcomm says RB3 is in use at by hundreds of organizations from US space agency NASA to iRobot’s self-guiding floor cleaners.
The new RB5 processor is heavily customized for robotics applications. It includes a fifth generation AI engine that delivers 15Tops (tera-operations per second) for deep learning. It is also focused on machine learning accuracy and includes an image signal processor with the ability to support up to seven concurrently operating cameras. Enhanced video analytics and a Hexagon Tensor Accelerator are also in-built.
Qualcomm’s head of robotics, Dev Singh, said: “Robotics is a complex challenge. RB5 offers Swiss knife flexibility.”
Target designs for RB5 include automated guided vehicles, autonomous mobile robots, delivery robots and drones, as well as inventory, industrial and collaborative robots.
A companion module supports 4G and 5G, the latter important for low latency applications such as those in surgery. Singh says current Qualcomm chips can address 80% of robotics appliances that require 10-20ms latency, and can also target the emerging demand for robots that use millimeter wave spectrum, especially for high capacity but localized Industrie 4.0 applications. For industrial use cases, RB5 will operate in harsh conditions down to negative 40 degrees C and up to 105 degrees C, with communications via industrial protocols such EtherCAT & TSN.
Qualcomm partnered with TDK and its sensor technologies in RB5. Those devices include motor control hardware, single and dual inertial measurement, magnetometer, chirp sensor, angle sensors and pressure and temperature sensors.
Qualcomm said it will announce pricing for the RB5 development kit in early July, with commercial availability later in 2020. The system supports Linux, Ubuntu and Robot Operating System 2.0 with a variety of drivers, and also supports Intel’s RealSense Depth Camera and the Panasonic TOF Camera for depth sensing.
Initial endorsements for RB5 came from customers such as EtherCAT, AWS, Brain Corp, Intel, LG, ModalAI, NXT Robotics, OrionStar, TDK, Open Robotics and Tier IV.