Qualcomm is continuing to extend its robotics business from the chip layer to the software layer. The company has agreed to acquire PickNik, a firm that has long maintained the open-source robotics operating framework MoveIt. The transaction amount has not yet been disclosed, and the acquisition still needs to meet the usual closing conditions.

MoveIt is built on the robot operating system ROS and has been widely used in motion planning, robotic arm operation, perception, and kinematic calculations. Its application scenarios cover industrial robots, scientific research platforms, and autonomous systems. For Qualcomm, the significance of this transaction lies not only in acquiring an additional software capability but also in more closely integrating the existing Dragonwing robot hardware platform with the software tools commonly used by developers.

MoveIt will continue to remain open-source.

Qualcomm stated that MoveIt will continue to remain open-source under the existing license and will continue to support third-party hardware. This is particularly crucial for current developers, as many teams have already been using this framework on various robot architectures and computing platforms.

Maintaining the open-source model also means that Qualcomm does not intend to make MoveIt a proprietary tool in the short term; instead, they hope to continue to expand the influence of their robotics platform within the existing developer ecosystem.

Dragonwing Add an additional layer of software

In recent years, Qualcomm has continuously promoted the application of Dragonwing in the fields of robotics, industrial Internet of Things, and edge AI. After acquiring PickNik, Qualcomm can complement a more complete software layer to the hardware, thus shortening the path for AI models to integrate into robot control systems.

The company mentioned that the integration directions include connecting the visual language model VLM and the visual language action model VLA more directly to the software systems responsible for action planning and machine control. This is also a key part of the current “entity AI” layout, which aims to take AI from generating digital content to further controlling devices and robots in the real world.

First, integrate from platforms such as VENTUNO Q.

Qualcomm stated that the integration of MoveIt is expected to be first implemented on platforms including Arduino VENTUNO Q. This device utilizes Dragonwing IQ -8275, offering up to 40 TOPS of AI processing power, and is equipped with a STM32H5 microcontroller designed for low-latency motor and robot control.

If the integration goes smoothly, developers will be able to more conveniently combine local large models, visual models, perception, planning, and execution capabilities in the same environment, reducing the development steps between the model and the actual robot actions.

Pre-market stock price slightly declines

After the announcement, Qualcomm's stock price was reported at around $195.98 before trading on September 23, a decrease of about 1.15%. Judging from market performance, this acquisition has not yet brought any significant boost.

However, from a strategic perspective, Qualcomm's move this time seems more like an attempt to secure a position in advance for the next phase of competition between robots and AI. Compared to short-term revenue, the more direct goal of this transaction is to expand its control over the technology stack for robot development.