Qualcomm’s acquisition of Arduino aims to give developers faster access to edge computing and AI technology. Simultaneously, Arduino is launching new hardware and software to enable this collaboration.
Qualcomm announces the acquisition of open-source hardware and software company Arduino. The acquisition aims to make Qualcomm’s portfolio of edge computing and AI technologies more accessible to a broader audience of developers, students, and businesses. Arduino will retain its brand and open-source approach but will henceforth operate within the Qualcomm group. The acquisition is not yet finalized and is subject to regulatory approval.
New Hardware and Development Tools
Alongside the acquisition announcement, Arduino introduces the UNO Q, a new single-board computer. The board is built around a so-called “dual brain” architecture, consisting of a Linux-compatible microprocessor combined with a real-time microcontroller.
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The UNO Q utilizes the Qualcomm Dragonwing QRB2210 processor. This combination is intended for applications where real-time control is combined with AI functionality, such as image and sound recognition in smart environments or industrial systems. The UNO Q remains compatible with existing Arduino tools like the Arduino IDE and the UNO ecosystem.
Software Environment for AI Development
In addition to the new hardware, Arduino also launches App Lab, an integrated development environment for building, testing, and deploying AI solutions. The software environment supports real-time operating systems, Linux, Python, and AI development, among others. App Lab integrates with the Edge Impulse platform, which was also previously acquired by Qualcomm.
The combination of App Lab and Edge Impulse is intended to make it easier to develop AI models based on real-world data for applications such as object detection, image classification, sound recognition, and anomaly detection.
According to both companies, Arduino will continue to operate independently, and microcontrollers and processors from multiple vendors will be supported. Qualcomm emphasizes that this acquisition accelerates its strategy to offer a complete edge ecosystem encompassing hardware, software, and cloud. The transaction is still subject to regulatory approval.