Qualcomm 視人形機械人為高度複雜的汽車

Park Jae-hyun, vice president at Qualcomm, delivers a presentation. (Photo: THE ELEC)

Qualcomm is stepping up its entry into the semiconductor market for humanoid robots, drawing on its experience in mobile devices and automobiles. The company is providing integrated AI software packages and other tools designed to simplify development.

Park Jae-hyun, vice president at Qualcomm, said at the "Semiconductors Powering Humanoids" conference held at COEX in Seoul on Oct. 16 that the company views humanoids as highly complex automobiles. "We already have all the technologies needed for their development," he said.

Qualcomm sees humanoids as operating on principles similar to autonomous vehicles, using cameras and other sensors to perceive their surroundings, AI to make decisions and motors to execute movements. While autonomous vehicles typically have three to four degrees of freedom (DoF) and are limited to movement on a plane, humanoids have around 60 DoF, making their movements far more complex.

Qualcomm has developed system-on-chips (SoCs) for robotics, low-power wireless communications, robotic operating system (OS) technology, power and thermal management, and AI development tools. Its Dragonwing SoC portfolio integrates central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs) and neural processing units (NPUs). The lineup includes Dragonwing Q2 and Q4 for consumer devices such as robotic vacuum cleaners, and Q5 and Q6 chipsets for service robots, including restaurant serving robots. The IQ8 targets autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and quadruped robots, while the IQ9 is designed for early-stage humanoids.

The flagship product is Dragonwing IQ10, which features an 18-core CPU based on the Oryon microarchitecture used in PCs. It delivers more than five times the computing performance of the IQ9. Qualcomm said its expertise in low-power SoC design addresses power consumption and heat generation challenges in enclosed, battery-powered environments.

Qualcomm also offers Wi-Fi 7 and 5G wireless communication solutions designed to control hundreds of robots while minimizing data loss during large-scale transfers. Its Linux-based real-time control technology enables precise robotic movements without delays.

The company also provides Qualcomm AI Stack, an integrated software package that simplifies AI model and robotics application development; Qualcomm AI Hub, which allows developers to download validated, up-to-date AI models; and software development kits (SDKs). Its offerings also include MLOps for automating AI model development, testing and deployment, and AI Data Flywheel, a system that enables robots to retrain and redeploy AI models as they perform tasks in real-world environments.