Qualcomm has acquired PickNik Robotics and will integrate the company's MoveIt software platform into Dragonwing, Qualcomm's edge AI stack for robotics applications.
MoveIt is an open-source robot motion planning software used across industrial and research robotics. Qualcomm said it will keep MoveIt open-source following the acquisition. The company did not disclose a purchase price.
Dragonwing is Qualcomm's robotics-focused edge computing platform built on Snapdragon processors. The platform targets manufacturers deploying AI-powered robots in factories and logistics operations. PickNik, founded in 2018 by roboticists from the Open Motion Planning Library project, has developed motion planning and control software adopted by robot makers including Universal Robots and ABB.
Qualcomm's robotics business has grown as industrial automation accelerates. The company released Snapdragon X processors for edge devices in 2024 and has positioned Dragonwing as a software layer to help customers deploy AI on robotic hardware without custom integration. Adding MoveIt's motion planning capability moves Qualcomm deeper into the stack roboticists need to operationalize AI-powered systems.
PickNik's software handles one of robotics' hardest problems: calculating how a robot arm should move through space to reach a target without hitting obstacles. Open-source adoption of MoveIt has grown in research and manufacturing settings where engineers customize motion planning for specific tasks. Keeping the software open-source after acquisition aligns with how robotics developers already work and removes a barrier to developers adopting Dragonwing.
Qualcomm's acquisition of PickNik extends a pattern of the chipmaker acquiring or integrating software to lock in hardware sales. The company bought machine learning inference software firm Nuvia in 2021 for over 1.3 billion dollars and acquired automotive software stack company Geeq in 2024. Dragonwing itself launched in 2023 as Qualcomm moved to compete with NVIDIA in edge robotics compute.
Qualcomm has not disclosed financial terms or a timeline for full integration of MoveIt into Dragonwing. The retention of MoveIt's open-source license will likely shape how quickly developers adopt the combined platform; roboticists building proprietary systems often rely on open-source tools to avoid licensing friction. Qualcomm's ability to expand Dragonwing adoption depends partly on whether the integration attracts rather than discourages the existing MoveIt developer base.
