Drone chips are key to realizing core functions such as flight control, visual perception, and data transmission. Based on application scenarios, they can be divided into three core areas: flight control system, image processing and AI inference, and wireless communication and navigation, adapting to the needs of different types of drones, such as consumer-grade and industrial-grade drones.

Flight control system chip: the "core brain" of drones

MCU chips: such as the APM32F405 from Extreme Ocean Semiconductor, based on the Cortex-M4 core, with a main frequency of 168MHz, supporting multi-channel data acquisition and fast response, suitable for logistics inspection and agricultural plant protection drones, responsible for basic functions such as flight attitude stabilization and motor speed control; STMicroelectronics' STM32H7 series, with its high main frequency of 480MHz and microsecond-level real-time response capability, occupies 70% of the global industrial flight control market, ensuring stable operation of industrial drones in complex environments.

SoC chips: Integrating multi-module computing power, suitable for mid-to-high-end drones, such as Rockchip RK3588 which uses an 8nm process, integrates a multi-core processor and NPU, supports AI inference and multi-sensor data fusion, and meets the flight control needs of both consumer-grade and industrial-grade drones; DJI's self-developed "Sky" series SoC is equipped with a dedicated NPU, which can realize complex task scheduling and multi-device collaboration, and is applied to flagship industrial drones.

Image processing and AI inference chips: the "visual center" of drones.

Image sensor chips, such as the OmniVision OG02B1B, support 4K@60fps high-definition video capture, have excellent imaging performance in low-light environments, and are widely used in consumer drone image transmission systems to ensure clear image transmission; industrial drones are equipped with high-resolution sensors to improve the accuracy of image acquisition in complex environments.

AI inference chips: focusing on massive data processing and intelligent analysis, such as NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin with a computing power of 275 TOPS, supporting real-time visual SLAM and target tracking, and adapted to industrial drones such as security and inspection drones to achieve accurate obstacle avoidance and target recognition; Huawei HiSilicon SS928 integrates a dedicated NPU and video processing unit, which can complete environmental semantic parsing and improve the autonomous decision-making ability of intelligent security drones.

Wireless communication and navigation chips: the "sensory nerves" of drones

Wireless communication chips: support image transmission and remote control signal transmission. For example, Broadcom integrated chips support multiple protocols such as Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3, with low power consumption and high bandwidth, and are suitable for consumer flagship drones to achieve real-time transmission of high-definition images and remote control. Some Huawei HiSilicon chips also integrate 5G baseband, support low-altitude private network communication, and have a latency of less than 10ms, meeting the long-distance and high-reliability data transmission requirements of industrial drones.

Navigation chips: ensuring accurate positioning. For example, Huada Beidou HD8120 series supports Beidou-3 and GPS multi-system positioning, which is suitable for the conventional navigation needs of agricultural and security drones; Xinxingtong UM960 series supports RTK differential positioning with a positioning error of ≤1cm, which is accurately adapted to industrial scenarios with extremely high positioning accuracy requirements such as power inspection and surveying.