Qualcomm to Acquire PickNik, Bringing MoveIt Robotics Software Closer to Dragonwing
aiinsider ·
Qualcomm Technologies has agreed to acquire PickNik, the developer behind the open-source MoveIt robotics manipulation framework. This acquisition aims to tightly integrate MoveIt’s motion planning and perception tools with Qualcomm’s Dragonwing AI processing and heterogeneous computing platforms. By combining these technologies, developers will gain a more direct pathway from AI models to real-time robot control and manipulation. Qualcomm also plans to extend MoveIt compatibility to Arduino hardware, starting with the VENTUNO Q board. Despite the acquisition, Qualcomm intends to keep MoveIt 1 and MoveIt 2 open source under their existing licenses. The company commits to maintaining community-driven development and support for third-party hardware and ROS. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, and the deal remains subject to customary closing conditions.
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