Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. has introduced Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight, an optimized 58x40mm board targeted specifically for consumer drones and robotics applications. Qualcomm Snapdragon Flight is based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, along with connectivity, drone software and development tools, bringing mobile technologies to create a new class of consumer drones.

Qualcomm Technologies also announced that Yuneec, a developer of consumer and professional drones, will be one of the first companies to embrace the Snapdragon Flight. Yuneec plans to release a drone based on the platform in 2016.

The Snapdragon Flight features processing power, real-time flight control on the Qualcomm Hexagon DSP, built-in Qualcomm 2x2 Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) optimized to support location positioning. The Snapdragon Flight is designed to enable advanced features, including:

• 4K Video - 4K high resolution camera support, image enhancement and video processing capabilities and simultaneous 720p encoding for first person view
• Communication and Navigation - Dual-band 2x2 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and 5 Hz GNSS location capabilities with real-time flight control on Hexagon DSP
• Camera and Sensor Support - 4K stereo VGA, optic flow cameras, inertial measurement unit (IMU), barometer sensor support and ports for additional sensors
• Qualcomm Quick Charge Technology - Supporting fast battery charging in between video/picture sessions

The Snapdragon 801 processor powers some of the world's most popular smartphones and includes a 2.26GHz quad-core Qualcomm®Krait CPU, Qualcomm Adreno 330 GPU, Hexagon DSP, dedicated video encode engine and dual image signal processors (ISP).

Snapdragon Flight is expected to be available in commercially available drones by 1H 2016.