Qualcomm Robotics RB5 Platform Targets the Development of 5G and AI-Enabled Robots

Qualcomm Robotics RB5 Platform

Qualcomm Robotics RB3 Development Platform powered by Snapdragon 845 processor gets an upgrade with Robotics RB5 Platform equipped with Qualcomm QRB5165 Robotics processor designed for industrial-grade temperature operating, and featuring a 15 TOPS Qualcomm AI Engine fo artificial intelligence and machine learning applications such as heterogeneous computing, enhanced computer vision, and multi-camera concurrency. The development platform also supports for 4G and 5G connectivity via a companion module and runs Ubuntu and ROS 2.0 operating systems. Qualcomm Robotics RB5 development kit specifications: SoC – Qualcomm QRB5165 with  Kryo 858 CPU @ up to 2.84 GHz,  Adreno 650 GPU, Adreno 665 VPU, Adreno 995 DPU, Qualcomm Hexagon DSP with quad HVX, and Qualcomm Spectra 480 ISP System Memory – 16GB LPDDR5 RAM (POP) Storage – 128 GB UFS3.0 storage, MicroSD card slot Video Output – 1x HDMI 1.4 port Audio – 2x WSA8810 Class-D on-board speaker amplifier, built-in PDM MIC, support for […]

ROScube Pico SBC Runs Ubuntu & ROS on Intel Atom or Rockchip PX30 Processor

RoScube Pico SBC Devkit

ADLINK has launched ROScube Pico SBC designed for robotics projects and powered by either an Intel Atom x5 Apollo Lake processor or a Rockchip PX30 Arm Cortex-A35 processor via their SMARC-compliant system-on-modules namely LEC-AL and as LEC-PX30. Both models run Ubuntu and ROS/ROS-2 operating systems simultaneously, and the company also provides NeuronBot robotics development and demo kit based on the SBC. ROScube Pico SBC and Devkit If ROScube Pico looks similar it’s because it appears to be based entirely on ADLINK previously announced ADLINK Industrial-Pi (I-Pi) SMARC Development Kit based on Rockchip PX30, and Vizi-AI development starter kit based on Atom x5-E3940 SoC and Movidius Myriad X VPU. Those are the specifications listed for ROScube Pico: SMARC Module For ROScube Pico NPS-1 – LEC-AL with Intel Atom processor, Intel Movidius Myriad X AI accelerator, 8GB LPDDR4 RAM, 32GB eMMC For ROScube Pico NPS-4 – LEC-PX30 with Rockchip PX-30 quad-core Cortex-A35 […]

MARK AI Robot Kit Aims to Teach AI & Robotics to 12+ Years Old (Crowdfunding)

MARK AI Robot Kit fot Education

We’ve written about Kendryte K210 RISC-V AI processor, and Sipeed M1 module several times including in our getting started for Maixduino and GroveAI HAT boards for low-power AI inference such as object recognition or face detection using Arduino and Micropython programming. Shenzhen-based Tinkergen, a STEM Education owned by Seeed Studio, has now leveraged the low-cost processor to design MARK AI robot kit, where MARK stands for Make A Robot Kit, in order to processor an educational AI Robotics platform for children ages 12 years old and more. MARK will ship as a kit with the main parts and components including a chassis, a cover, two wheels, stepper motors, a pan-tilt camera with K210 processor, a 2.4″ LCD display, Grove & Arduino compatible MARKduino interface board, some sensors, and six AA batteries. Tinkergen offers pre-trained model to recognized objects like humans, books, pens, or smartphones, as well as traffic signs, numbers […]

TQ Group Announces NXP i.MX 8X ARM Cortex-A35 Modules as the Processor Finally Becomes Available

TQMa8Xx i.MX 8X Module

TQ Group, headquartered in Germany, has launched two NXP i.MX 8X Cortex-A35 modules with TQMa8Xx and TQMa8XxS SoMs, with the latter being SMARC 2.1 compliant, and both targeting various applications ranging from medical devices, HMIs, industrial controllers and industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to gateways, building automation, transport, and robotics. The press release explains NXP will officially launch i.MX 8X CPUs on May 14, 2020. We first heard about i.MX 8X in 2016, before an official announcement in 2017, and we wrote about Toradex i.MX 8X SoM in 2018, plus 96Boards AI-ML SBC in 2019, so I naively believed the processor had been around for a couple of years, but the Toradex SoM product is still shown as an “early product announcement” [Update: the page has just been updated since it is now shipping as well],  and AI-ML board has just launched with 26 units available on Arrow website. Some […]

Thundercomm Announces Qualcomm based Modules for Smart Speakers, LTE IoT, Smart Retail, and 5G Applications

TurboX C865 Snapdragon 865 SoM

Based in California in the US, Thundercomm Technology Co., Ltd. (aka Thundercomm) is a provider of IoT products & technologies for OEM/ODMs, enterprises and developers. The company introduced several Qualcomm based “TurboX Systems-on-Module” for smart speakers, LPWAN IoT devices with NB-IoT and LTE Cat M1 connectivity, smart retail applications, and 5G powered devices. TurboX C404 and C405 SOMs for Smart Speakers and Soundbars Key features and specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon C404 / C405 with CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @, 1.4 GHz GPU (C405 Only) – Qualcomm Adreno 306 GPU @ 600 MHz DSP -2x Hexagon QDSP6 v66 – Low Power Audio Subsystem & Audio Compute DSP System Memory & Storage – 1GB LPDDR3 + 8GB eMMC flash in eMCP package; SD card signals Connectivity 2×2 MIMO WiFI 5 802.11 a/b/g/ac + Bluetooth 5.0 + FM via WCN3999 Gigabit Ethernet (RGMII) Display Interfaces (C405 Only) 4-lane MIPI DSI port […]

ODYSSEY-X86J4105800 SBC Combines Intel Gemini Lake SoC and Arduino Compatible MCU

ODYSSEY-X86J4105864

Would it be good to have an all-in-one Windows platform used to both develop Arduino code and run that code to control I/O of your project? Or alternatively, have a single board computer capable of video processing and real-time I/Os? That platform already exists. UDOO X86 II SBC features an Intel Braswell processor combined with an Arduino Leonardo compatible Microchip ATmega32U4 MCU. But there’s now another, more powerful option courtesy of Seeed Studio with the oddly named ODYSSEY-X86J4105800 SBC equipped with an Intel Celeron J4105 quad-core Gemini Lake processor to run Windows 10 or Linux distributions, and a Microchip SAMD21 ARM Cortex-M0+ microcontroller compatible with Arduino Zero. ODYSSEY-X86J4105800 SBC specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4105 quad-core processor @ 1.5/2.5 GHz (Turbo) with 12EU Intel UHD Graphics 600 @ 250-750 MHz; 10W TDP System Memory – 8GB LPDDR4 RAM Storage Optional 64GB eMMC flash (fitted to ODYSSEY-X86J4105864 model), 1x SATA III data […]

MarsCat is a Bionic Cat Powered by Raspberry Pi 3 (Crowdfunding)

MarsCat

Elephant Robotics MarsCat is a robotic cat that tries to mimic the behavior of actual cats through artificial intelligence. It can have a life of its own roaming the house, and you can also interact with it as it will play with toys/teasers through its camera, and you can send voice command to ask it to walk, run, look at you, be quiet. etc… but the trick is that it may not always obey like a real cat, and its personality will evolve depending on how you interact with it. Beside being a bionic pet, MarsCat can also be used to teach/learn robotics as the company will release an open-source SDK allowing you to change the Python code running on the Raspberry Pi 3 board powering the cat, and access API’s to control the camera, microphone, touch sensors, as well as the 16 servos connected to a Microchip ATMega2560 MCU […]

Snekboard Controls LEGO Power Functions with CircuitPython or Snek Programming Languages (Crowdfunding)

Snekboard

LEGO has provided robotics kit for years, and LEGO blocks and accessories in general are great to build all sort of projects, so it’s not surprising third-parties have come up with LEGO-compatible boards and accessories for makers which include DFRobot BOSON kits, STEMTera smart breadboard, Brixo LEGO blocks with built-in electronics, and more. Snekboard is another option with the Microchip SAMD21 board designed to work with LEGO Power Functions motors and switches are programmable with MicroPyhon based CircuitPython or Snek programming languages. Snekboard hardware specifications: Microcontroller – Microchip SAMD21G18A Arm Cortex-M0 MCU with 256 KB flash and 32 KB RAM. Storage – 2MB SPI flash USB – 1x Micro USB port for power and programming Motor Control – 4x TI DRV8800 DC motor drivers tp provide up to 2.8A for LEGO motors and servos I/O- 8x GPIOs (3.3V) Misc – 2x RGB LEDs, 1x blue LED Power Supply 5V via […]