Qualcomm & Arduino Team Up to Bring AI Power to the Edge with New UNO Q Board
SAN DIEGO, CA – October 7, 2024 – Qualcomm is making a significant push into the embedded and IoT markets with a surprising collaboration: a new Arduino board, the UNO Q, powered by Qualcomm’s Dragonwing QRB2210 processor and a real-time STM32U585 microcontroller. The launch, announced today, aims to unlock advanced computing capabilities with precise control for a vast community of developers already familiar with the Arduino ecosystem.
The partnership leverages Arduino’s established developer base to expand Qualcomm’s reach beyond traditional mobile and automotive applications.Qualcomm plans to offer the Dragonwing chip as a standalone component, similar to its other processor offerings.
The UNO Q boasts capabilities beyond basic microcontroller functions,including an Adreno GPU enabling video output.Though, its key strength lies in its ability to run AI models, opening doors for applications in robotics, machine vision, and sound recognition with real-time responsiveness.
The board will be available in two configurations: a base model with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of eMMC storage, and a higher-end version featuring 4GB of RAM and 32GB of eMMC storage. Both versions include a USB Type-C port, WiFi, and Bluetooth connectivity.
Alongside the hardware,Arduino is releasing a new integrated development habitat,the Arduino App Lab,designed to streamline development across real-time OS,Linux,Python,and AI platforms. “This new software, coupled with the UNO Q board, will open up a vast array of possibilities for inventors to create, the primary limiting factor being creativity,” the company stated.
This announcement comes as Qualcomm continues to advance its AI capabilities in other sectors. At the recent IAA Mobility event, the company showcased the Snapdragon Ride Pilot, co-developed with BMW, which debuted in the new iX3. The system offers hands-free, eyes-on autonomy up to 85 mph, handling lane changes, parking, and urban driving scenarios. Snapdragon Ride Pilot has been validated in over 60 countries and is available to automakers beyond BMW, supporting driving automation levels from New Car Assessment Program to Level 2+.
Qualcomm also recently unveiled the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and Snapdragon X2 Elite processors for Windows PCs, delivering 80 TOPS of AI processing power. Devices powered by the Snapdragon X2 Elite are anticipated to launch in the first half of 2026.
the acquisition of Arduino by Qualcomm is still pending legal approval, a standard procedure for such transactions.
