Qualcomm Releases Arduino Ventuno Q Single-Board Computer, Targeting Edge AI and Robotics Applications

IT Home March 10 News, on the eve of the Embedded World Conference, Qualcomm’s subsidiary Arduino announced the launch of its latest development platform — Arduino VENTUNO Q, designed specifically for generative AI, robotics, and motion control applications. It aims to further promote the adoption of edge AI and will be available in the second quarter.

According to the introduction, VENTUNO is a word derived from Italian meaning “twenty-one,” symbolizing both a continuation of the popular Arduino UNO series and marking the company’s 21st anniversary of its foundation later this month.

VENTUNO Q features a dual-core architecture similar to Arduino UNO Q but with significantly upgraded computing power. Its core is based on the Qualcomm Dragonwing IQ-8275 processor, capable of handling traditional and generative AI workloads, with NPU acceleration reaching up to 40 TOPS (dense computing power). Additionally, it includes an onboard dedicated STM32H5 microcontroller responsible for low-latency motion control and drive tasks. The platform is equipped with 16GB of memory to support concurrent inference and complex multitasking, along with expandable 64GB storage.

Based on VENTUNO Q, users can build prototypes and solutions across various fields entirely offline, such as:

AI Systems: Offline voice assistants running local large language models; gesture-responsive smart mirrors; automated speech recognition (ASR) and speech synthesis (TTS) at the edge for tourism kiosks, medical reception, or transportation terminals.

Robotics and Motion Control: Visually guided precise pick-and-place robotic arms; service robots that recognize and follow their owners in dynamic environments; autonomous robots using visual SLAM and path optimization for independent navigation.

Edge AI Vision and Sensing: Active security systems capable of recognizing dangerous behaviors; traffic monitoring devices processing complex data at the edge; automated quality inspection systems using local visual language models (VLM) to detect minute defects.

Education and Research: An ideal tool for teaching from computer vision to edge generative AI, enabling rapid prototyping of functions.

Unified Development Experience, Eliminating Complexity

VENTUNO Q aims to remove the complexity of developing across multiple devices. Its main processor runs upstream-supported Ubuntu and Debian Linux systems, while the real-time microcontroller runs a Zephyr OS-based Arduino Core, ensuring deterministic timing for critical tasks.

Through the seamless Arduino App Lab environment, users can build complex AI systems faster than ever. This environment offers a unified development experience, supporting Arduino sketches, Python scripts, and a range of ready-to-use AI models—including fully offline local LLMs, VLMs, automatic speech recognition, gesture recognition, pose estimation, and object tracking supported by Qualcomm AI Hub. For advanced projects requiring custom AI models, Arduino App Lab now integrates Edge Impulse Studio, with plans to support more AI frameworks in the future.

VENTUNO Q can connect to PCs or operate as a standalone single-board computer (SBC). Unlike general-purpose AI SBCs, it is designed from the ground up for machines that need to move, react, and manipulate. Its hardware features include:

Industrial-grade I/O: Native CAN-FD, PWM, and high-speed GPIO for precise physical control;

ROS 2 Ready: Native support for robot operating system workflows;

High-speed connectivity: Interfaces for multiple MIPI-CSI cameras (for AI processing of multiple video streams), advanced audio interfaces, display interfaces, and 2.5Gb Ethernet.

Additionally, VENTUNO Q offers broad hardware compatibility, supporting UNO expansion boards and carrier boards, Arduino Modulino nodes, Qwiic sensors, and Raspberry Pi HATs.