More humanoid robots are coming and there are now special chips for them, too

It seems that – for better or worse – we’re going to get loads of robots debuting over the coming decade. We’ve been here before of course, with Honda Asimo and LG’s Cloi line which has continued to evolve. Oh, and we guess we should mention Sony’s Aibo and Amazon Astro, too.

Many well-known companies like Dyson haven’t been shy about their work in robotics even if it seems like we’re far off getting one to pop down to the shops able to test the ripeness of the mangoes. Or even doing simple domestic chores.

While it feels like for now, we’ll have to be content with beefed-up robot vacs, the ever-evolving world of tech means that there are a lot of people trying to bring us robots for homes, restaurants and warehouses. Now, chip giant Qualcomm has introduced a new specific processor for use in robots across a range of purposes.

The Dragonwing IQ10 is similar to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon phone and PC chips in terms of the key elements, but it also boasts numerous other bells and whistles that make it suitable for more extreme uses. Qualcomm cited humanoid projects from Booster and VinMotion – the latter company is demonstrating a humanoid robot at CES 2026 powered by the previous Dragonwing IQ9.

The IQ10 has a wider operating temperature for industrial robots, while the AI performance is nearly 10x that if the company’s PC chips. There’s also support for up to 20 concurrently running cameras as well as more hardware than you’d find in your PC or VR headset.

Qualcomm has come up with two examples it can see the tech being used for. As well as humanoid robots, there’s also a dual-armed robot demo for using tools, picking products or object detection and tracking. The chip with run a Linux-based OS. The aim is to make it easier to develop robots for all purposes that continuously learn and so signpost the way toward a future where robotics is a lot more commonplace.

Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home