Qualcomm Technologies unveiled what it calls the world’s first drone platform and reference design to offer both 5G and AI functionalities, the Qualcomm Flight RB5 5G Platform. This new product is expected to help accelerate development for commercial, enterprise and industrial drones, offering innovative possibilities for industries looking to adopt drone products and realise the benefits of the intelligent edge. The Qualcomm Flight RB5 5G Platform is powered by the Qualcomm QRB5165 processor, building on Qualcomm Technologies’ latest IoT offerings.
The Flight RB5 5G platform condenses multiple complex technologies into one tightly integrated drone system to support evolving applications and new use cases in sectors including film and entertainment, security and emergency response, delivery, defense, inspection, and mapping. Its high-performance and heterogeneous computing at ultra-low power consumption provides power efficient inferencing at the edge for AI and machine learning, enabling fully autonomous drones.
Camera capabilities deliver premium image capabilities and performance. With 5G and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, this platform enhances critical flying abilities beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) to support safer, more reliable flight. The Qualcomm Flight RB5 5G Platform is equipped with a Qualcomm Secure Processing Unit to support modern drone demands for cyber-security protections as a key enabler of data-protection and safety requirements.
Qualcomm Technologies is working with Verizon to complete network testing of the Qualcomm Flight RB5 5G Platform for the Verizon 5G network, and expects the platform, which is 5G mmWave capable, will be offered via the Verizon Thingspace Marketplace.
The Qualcomm Flight RB5 5G drone reference design is available for pre-sale now through ModalAI. The development kit is expected to be available in Q4.
