Intel has announced a new chip that can power the computer vision of robots and drones. Thanks to self-learning possibilities, these devices then learn from their environment.
The Myriad X chip succeeds the Myriad 2, which is already used in the DJI Phantom 4 drone and smart cameras, among others. The Myriad X is a more advanced version of that chip, Intel reports Tuesday.
The Myriad x is the first chip in the line to have a ‘Neural Compute Engine’. This part makes the chip very suitable for self-learning algorithms.
This allows devices with the Myriad X in it to interpret and learn from information from their environment. “With this faster, more thoughtful intelligence built directly into devices, we can potentially make our world safer, more productive and more personal,” said Remi El-Ouazzane, the head of chipmaker Movidius.
Movidius
Intel acquired Movidius in September 2016, after the company had already sold its chips to numerous companies. With this acquisition, Intel wants to become less dependent on the declining sales of chips for PCs.
The Myriad X can perform 4 trillion calculations per second, where the Myriad 2 got stuck at about 1 to 1.5 trillion calculations per second. With that extra computing power, the chip can also record small details of its environment, instead of just global features.
The chip’s size also makes it very suitable for mobile devices such as drones and robots. The Myriad X is the size of a small coin. It is not yet known what the Myriad X will cost, but the chip is primarily intended for the more advanced gadgets with image recognition.