Qualcomm's 5G RB5 robotics platform will help drones navigate tight spaces

Qualcomm is working on AI computing much like rival chip makers Intel and NVIDIA, but it's sticking to what it does best: smaller devices and connectivity. It just unveiled the RB5 AI-enabled 5G robotics platform -- a follow-up to the RB3 chipset -- designed to be used in a wide array of robotic and drone products. The chips could help manufacturers build autonomous devices that can navigate their environments more adroitly while quickly relaying crucial information back to the user. The RB5 platform kit is a set of hardware, software and development tools that will allow manufacturers "to create the next generation of high-compute, low-power robots and drones," the company said. On the hardware side, it uses the company's QRB5165 processor and Kryo 585 CPU and Adreno 650 GPU, based on the Snapdragon 865 CPU. It's been customized for robotics applications and can deliver 15 TOPS (tera operations per second) of AI performance.