Qualcomm to acquire PickNik Robotics and keep MoveIt open-source

Qualcomm Applied sciences Inc. as we speak mentioned it has agreed to amass PickNik Inc., which has developed robotics software program together with the MoveIt open-source manipulation framework. The businesses mentioned they count on to streamline MoveIt integration with Qualcomm Dragonwing platforms to provide builders a better path from AI fashions to planning, manipulation, and real-time management.

“Since our founding, PickNik’s mission has been to supply industries with a strong, open platform that accelerates innovation and growth of superior robotics, nicely past conventional factories,” said Dave Coleman, founder and chief product officer at PickNik.

“Becoming a member of Qualcomm Applied sciences will permit us to speed up that mission, broaden funding in MoveIt as a number one AI coaching platform for robotics and ship much more worth to builders whereas preserving the openness, neighborhood collaboration, and cross-platform assist which have all the time been central to our strategy,” he mentioned.

PickNik superior robotic manipulation with MoveIt

Based in 2015, PickNik labored on the Amazon Selecting Problem and landed Google as its first buyer. The Boulder, Colo.-based firm‘s workforce had begun work on MoveIt as a part of the Robotic Working System (ROS) undertaking at Willow Storage.

In 2024, PickNik rebranded MoveIt Studio to MoveIt Professional to replicate its maturation right into a professional-grade system with superior runtime, decision-making, and orchestration capabilities.

This 12 months, the corporate partnered with Motiv Area Programs to develop software program for NASA’s Fly Foundational Robotics mission. It additionally launched MoveIt Professional 9.0, which incorporates enhanced perception-to-motion capabilities, redesigned teleoperation, and a coaching information assortment system.

Qualcomm gives instruments for commercializing robots

San Diego-based Qualcomm gives Snapdragon processors, wi-fi system-on-chip (SoC) modems, and Web of Issues (IoT) platforms. In January 2026, the corporate launched a general-purpose structure stack to combine {hardware}, software program, and AI. Qualcomm mentioned it helps vision-language fashions (VLMs) and vision-language-action fashions (VLAs).

In April, Qualcomm joined MassRobotics to supply Dragonwing to assist resident startups. The corporate mentioned its acquisition of PickNik strengthens its “dedication to fostering an open robotics ecosystem, offering builders with the instruments, software program, and frameworks wanted to maneuver extra effectively from analysis and experimentation to prototyping, deployment, and manufacturing at scale.”

“Robotics is without doubt one of the most fun frontiers of bodily AI, and software program is the connective tissue that turns nice {hardware} into nice robots,” mentioned Nakul Duggal, government vp and group common supervisor for automotive, industrial and embedded IoT, and robotics at Qualcomm.

“PickNik has earned great belief inside the international robotics neighborhood by way of its stewardship of MoveIt and its dedication to open-source innovation,” he added. “Collectively, we plan to make it simpler for builders to construct superior robotic purposes on Dragonwing robotics platforms whereas persevering with to assist the openness and collaboration which have made MoveIt profitable.”

Qualcomm to proceed open-source assist

Builders, college students, researchers, and industrial robotics organizations worldwide have used MoveIt to construct robotics purposes on prime of ROS for purposes together with industrial automation, service robotics, cell manipulation, and rising bodily AI techniques. Qualcomm mentioned that it plans to maintain MoveIt 1 and a couple of open-source underneath its current license and community-driven roadmaps and assets.

As well as, Qualcomm mentioned it is going to proceed supporting MoveIt throughout third-party {hardware} suppliers. “MoveIt’s hardware-agnostic design is a key enabler of innovation, giving builders the liberty to decide on the robotic, compute platforms, and sensor parts that greatest match their wants,” it asserted.

Each PickNik and Qualcomm are founding members of the Open Supply Robotics Alliance (OSRA). Qualcomm additionally mentioned it intends to proceed driving tasks similar to Space ROS along with open-source growth of MoveIt and ROS.

“MoveIt is coming into an thrilling new chapter with the assets and assist to assist broaden its influence,” mentioned PickNik CEO Dave Grant.

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MoveIt integration with Dragonwing, Arduino to ease robotics growth

In October 2025, Qualcomm acquired open-source {hardware} and software program agency Arduino. Qualcomm plans to combine its purchases, beginning with integrating MoveIt with Arduino VENTUNO Q boards. Its said objective is “to make superior robotics, edge AI, and heterogeneous compute extra accessible than ever.”

“This integration seeks to increase highly effective movement planning and autonomy capabilities to focus on thousands and thousands of builders, serving to shorten the journey from prototype to production-ready robots,” the corporate added.

By integrating PickNik’s industrial MoveIt Professional platform with Dragonwing’s superior AI, heterogeneous computing, connectivity, and real-time capabilities, Qualcomm mentioned it is going to simplify and pace up robotics growth for various environments.

At ROSCon Toronto this week, Qualcomm and PickNik are exhibiting MoveIt Professional operating on VENTUNO Q and Dragonwing platforms. The closing of their transaction, whose quantity was not specified, is topic to customary closing circumstances.

Qualcomm’s acquisition of PickNik is simply the newest bodily AI deal. In January, Mobileye acquired Mentee Robotics for $900 million. In June, Bear Robotics purchased Kinisi Robotics.

Earlier this month, Qualcomm rival NVIDIA mentioned it plans to amass Hugging Face and hold its AI growth platform open. This week, SoftBank Group reportedly deliberate to buy the Robotics and AI Institute from Hyundai Motor Group, and Google unit Intrinsic launched ROS-compatible capabilities.

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