Qualcomm recently announced that it wanted to break out from just mobile processors and also create chips for drones, and now, we have a good look at what that means.

The company has begun teasing its drone-related news to be announced at CES 2016 next week, and has demoed Snapdragon Flight, its new drone system, complete with an autopilot mode.

The new chips were first announced back in September under the name Snapdragon Flight, with the company saying that its processors had capabilities beyond smartphones and supported the sensors and technology required in a drone.

The Snapdragon 820, for example, will be seen in a number of smartphones, however, it was designed to also be used in UAVs, with its GPU being useful for image recognition, among other things.

Used for Snapdragon Flight, the two front-facing cameras can be used together for depth perception, enabling drones to sense how far away an object is so that it doesn't run into it. Another camera can be used to track where a drone is, even if it doesn't have GPS enabled. Of course, the chip does support a range of connections, like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.

Last but not least, there's a 4K camera on the drone, which can be captured on the memory chip, while a 720p version of it is streamed back to the operator in real time.

It's not known exactly who manufactured the drone, although it is likely that Qualcomm partnered with Yuneec, which has announced that it will be making a number of Snapdragon Flight-based models in 2016.

Only time will tell if Qualcomm ends up being a major player in the drone-processing business, however, it is highly likely that it will at least play a part considering its dominance in the mobile processor market in general.

By: DocMemory
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