投资Skysense，高通为进无人机市场砸了多少钱

近来高通宣布将进入无人机产业，该公司极力想进入下一代无人机的供应链，为此正开发新产品以满足无人机市场需求。

尽管无人机应用目前仍受到很大的限制，但商用领域和前景仍然广泛。而限制现有无人机产品发展的一个大问题是其电池续航能力不足。近日高通宣布投资Skysense公司，这家公司致力于改进无人机的充电基础架构，可在一个处理器内集成无人机端口和高通的骁龙820 SoC处理器，可实现处理多媒体并连接无人机端口。

Recently, QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) has announced its plans to enter into the drone industry. Since then it is trying to become a default dominant nervous system for the upcoming next generation drones. The semiconductor company is exploring new devices for its chips.

There have been several challenges in the new industry. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations could be limiting the adoption of commercial drones. Until now, drones were basically banned, unless the operator owns Section 333 permit. Such a permit requires a cumbersome process, which lasts for about 120 days.

In the latest guidelines, drones are legally allowed to fly for the commercial purposes. Under a given set of conditions, such as it travels under 500 feet in the daylight hours, the pilot has passed a written examination, achieved a minimum age of 17 years, and flies in the sight of the operator.

It is expected that with flexible rules, commercial drone startups would skyrocket. Well-established companies will feel the heat of rising competition in the industry, but it is assumed that the real challenge for QUALCOMM would be a limited battery problem, according to the report published by MarketWatch.

Recently, QUALCOMM has made investments in Skysense Inc. a company constructing an infrastructure to charge drones. Most of the drones being used have a 15-25 minutes fight time. Skysense has formed a "Droneport," a hangar, which permits drones to get charge and transfer data wirelessly to the operator. It is basically a solar-powered device that can be placed around the field, to recharge drones directly to the hangar via wires.

Skysense is principally, in a process to integrate its Droneport with QUALCOMM’s Snapdragon 820 system-on-chip (SoC) processor. The processor will process multimedia and connectivity with Droneport.

Previously, the semiconductor company has revealed its QUALCOMM Quick Charge 3.0. It is first of its kind technology that will comprise of Intelligent Negotiation for Optimum Voltage (INOV). This up-to-date algorithm will allow Android phones to charge battery from zero to 80% in roughly 35 minutes.

It is expected that with time, QUALCOMM will be able to make such a charger for drones as well. Such an innovation will give it an opportunity to increase its earnings and strengthen the investors’ confidence in the company.

The investment by the organization in Skysense could help it to diversify its business. Over the years, it has been providing chips for various mobile phones. However, we believe that the Android smartphones ecosystem has saturated in numerous ways. The market for high-profile phones has clotted around Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and SAMSUNG ELECT LTD (F) (OTCMKTS:SSNLF). The move into the drone industry is the need of time.