Qualcomm buys open-source electronics firm Arduino

By Stephen Nellis

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Qualcomm on Tuesday said it has acquired Arduino, an Italian not-for-profit firm that makes hardware and software for developing prototypes of robots and other electronic gadgets.

San Diego-based Qualcomm is a major supplier of chips at the heart of mobile phones but has been expanding into other fields such as connected vehicles, wireless earphones, laptop computers and industrial machines. With the Arduino deal, it will acquire an open-source platform with more than 33 million developers.

The companies did not disclose the price of the deal. Qualcomm said Arduino "will retain its independent brand, tools and mission."

Arduino is widely used by high-school and university students worldwide to learn how to build and program electronic devices. It is also used by professional engineers to develop prototypes quickly.

Its software and hardware is compatible with chips from a range of providers beyond Qualcomm. The two firms said they will continue to support chips from other makers.

Qualcomm also said it will introduce an Arduino development board powered by one of its "Dragonwing" processing chips that will be suitable for devices such as robots that need computational power similar to a computer or phone along with real-time control over wings, wheels or other robotic elements.

The chipmaker said it will be the first board to work with a new coding tool called "AppLab" aimed at helping Arduino developers bridge the gap between coding languages used in robots and those used in more complex artificial intelligence systems.

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

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