Qualcomm launches Snapdragon Flight for consumer drones

Qualcomm, the world’s leading smartphone chip manufacturer, has ventured into the consumer drone market. Its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., has introduced Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight, a development platform for consumer drones and robotics applications. The first Snapdragon system-on-a-chip (SoC) with camera functionality should make aerial drones and other remotely operated flying vehicles lighter in weight.

“The Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight brings together the technologies that have defined the mobile industry onto a single board, enabling OEMs to build drones that are lighter, smaller, easy to use and affordable with long battery life and superior functionalities,” said Raj Talluri, senior vice president, product management at Qualcomm Technologies, in a press note.

The computer board is based on the Snapdragon 801 processor that includes a quad-core 2.26 GHz processor. It also embraces a digital signal processor for real-time flight control on the Qualcomm Hexagon DSP, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, an advanced GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) and 4K video processing.

Additional ports for sensors and image enhancement will equip the drones to provide aerial photographs for high resolution cameras with advanced sensor support. The platform will allow drones to support 4K video using various sensors. The Qualcomm Quick Charge supports fast battery charging in between video or picture sessions.

Qualcomm said that Yuneec, a leading Chinese developer of consumer and professional drones, will be the first to incorporate the Snapdragon Flight. Yuneec plans to release a drone based on the platform in 2016.

Reports from Radiant Insights expect the global commercial drone market to increase by leaps and bounds, or from US$609 million in 2014 to US$4.8 billion by 2021. It’s likely the new platform could contribute substantially to the growth of the drone market in the coming years.

The world's’ most popular consumer drone maker, Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI) of China, reported nearly US$500 million in revenue and is expected to double this to become the first billion dollar consumer drone maker, reports The Verge.

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