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ForwardX Robotics raises $31 million in Series C funding round

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ForwardX Robotics, a Beijing-based developer of autonomous mobile robots for warehousing and manufacturing environments, has completed its initial Series C1 funding round, raising $31 million.

The initial round was led by Taikang Life Insurance, with Qualcomm Ventures and Starlight Capital also contributing to the round.

Only seven months after the close of its $63 million Series B round, the latest round of funding brings ForwardX to approximately $100 million in total investment since its founding in 2016. [Read more…] about ForwardX Robotics raises $31 million in Series C funding round

Qualcomm launches ‘world’s first’ 5G and AI-enabled drone platform

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Qualcomm says it has unleashed “a new era of autonomous drone capabilities” with what it says is the world’s first 5G and AI-enabled drone platform.

The company says its Qualcomm Flight RB5 5G Platform accelerates and scales development for drone manufacturers to deliver powerful, purpose-built enterprise and industrial 5G drones.

Following the success of the Ingenuity Helicopter on Mars as a key breakthrough for unmanned flight powered by the Qualcomm Flight Platform, Qualcomm Technologies continues its drone endeavours by unveiling the world’s first drone platform and reference design to offer both 5G and AI-capabilities, the Qualcomm Flight RB5 5G Platform. [Read more…] about Qualcomm launches ‘world’s first’ 5G and AI-enabled drone platform

Jacobs, Peachtree Corners, and Qualcomm partner to develop cellular vehicle-to-everything technology in Georgia Smart City

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Jacobs, Peachtree Corners and Qualcomm Technologies have agreed a partnership to implement end-to-end smart solutions in one of the nation’s first smart city environments powered by real-world connected vehicle technology and infrastructure.

As a part of the working relationship, Qualcomm Technologies serves as ecosystem enabler by providing technology solutions, while Jacobs manages the installation commission project delivery.

The program aims to demonstrate the continued momentum of smart cities and spaces, with Peachtree Corners serving as a model for other municipalities as they look to deploy smart solutions and programs. [Read more…] about Jacobs, Peachtree Corners, and Qualcomm partner to develop cellular vehicle-to-everything technology in Georgia Smart City

OrionStar showcases Qualcomm-enabled 5G service robots at MWC Shanghai

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OrionStar, the robotics company invested in by telecommunications company Cheetah Mobile, has developed three service robots embedded with Qualcomm’s 5G solutions and processing capabilities.

The company showcased some of its technologies at the recent Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2021.

By adding 5G connectivity, the robots get a powerful boost in AI performance to provide an even higher level of stability, consistency, responsiveness, coordination and remote control capabilities. [Read more…] about OrionStar showcases Qualcomm-enabled 5G service robots at MWC Shanghai

Visteon partners with ECARX and Qualcomm to develop ‘intelligent cockpits’ for automotive industry

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Visteon, ECARX and Qualcomm Technologies have launched a joint initiative to develop intelligent cockpit solutions across conventional and electric vehicle applications. 

Visteon and ECARX, using Qualcomm Snapdragon Automotive Cockpit Platforms, are working together to develop these intelligent technologies and sharing research to commercialize an integrated cockpit project for a variety of vehicle platforms starting in 2021.

Sachin Lawande, president and CEO of Visteon, described digital content as “the battleground” for OEMs as human interfaces becomes more complex and connected technologies are increasingly important to improve the cockpit. [Read more…] about Visteon partners with ECARX and Qualcomm to develop ‘intelligent cockpits’ for automotive industry

Qualcomm’s partners talk about the chipmaker’s new robotics platform

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Chipmaking giant recently unveiled its RB5 robotics platform.

Commercial products based on the Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform are expected to be available in 2020, but the company has been partnering with a number of companies in advance.

New partners can now start developing products based on the platform, and are invited to visit the Qualcomm Developer Network webpage and the Qualcomm Technologies’ product webpage to ask for more information. [Read more…] about Qualcomm’s partners talk about the chipmaker’s new robotics platform

Analysis: Qualcomm’s new robotics platform raises a few questions

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By Rian Whitton, principal analyst at tech market advisory firm ABI Research

Qualcomm last week launched its next step in its bid to power the next generation of commercial 5G-enabled robots, with the release of its RB5 platform.

Bringing high-compute power and a significant degree of modularity to the energy-constrained robotic platform market, the RB5 is an evolution on the company’s RB3 platform released in 2019, and a potential game-changer in the development of smart robotic fleets.

RB5 is advertised as a premium platform, with an emphasis on sophistication over cost-efficiency, supporting high-performance heterogeneous computing with built-in 5G capability and 4K HDR video streaming. [Read more…] about Analysis: Qualcomm’s new robotics platform raises a few questions

Qualcomm launches ‘world’s first’ 5G and AI-enabled robotics platform

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Qualcomm Technologies has launched what it claims is the “world’s first 5G and artificial intelligence-enabled robotics platform”. (See video below.)

The company says its Qualcomm Robotics RB5 platform is its “most advanced, integrated, comprehensive offering designed specifically for robotics”.

Building on the Qualcomm Robotics RB3 platform and its broad adoption in a wide array of robotics and drone products available today, the Qualcomm says its RB5 platform is comprised of an extensive set of hardware, software and development tools. [Read more…] about Qualcomm launches ‘world’s first’ 5G and AI-enabled robotics platform

Denso partners with Qualcomm to develop ‘next-generation’ vehicle dashboards

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Automotive systems maker Denso is partnering with chipmaker Qualcomm to develop what they call “next-generation cockpit systems”.

Though they use the word “cockpit”, they probably mean vehicle dashboards rather than aircraft cockpits.

In recent years, the amount of information provided by a vehicle to the driver has increased due to advanced driver assistance functions using cameras and sensors, as well as various entertainment functions. [Read more…] about Denso partners with Qualcomm to develop ‘next-generation’ vehicle dashboards

Siemens and Qualcomm set up ‘first private standalone 5G network in an industrial environment’

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Siemens and Qualcomm Technologies have implemented what they say is the first private 5G standalone network in a real industrial environment using the 3.7-3.8GHz band.

Siemens is providing the actual industrial test conditions and end devices such as Simatic control systems and IO devices and Qualcomm Technologies is supplying the 5G test network and the relevant test equipment.

The 5G network was installed in Siemens’ Automotive Showroom and Test Center in Nuremberg (main picture). Automated guided vehicles are displayed here which are primarily used in the automotive industry. [Read more…] about Siemens and Qualcomm set up ‘first private standalone 5G network in an industrial environment’