Taiwanese firm Advantech is enabling seamless, scalable vision integration across autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), humanoid robots, robotic arms and edge AI systems.

In modern robotics, vision is the foundation for perception, safety and autonomy, but also one of the most difficult subsystems to integrate. GMSL2/3 cameras have become the industry standard for high-bandwidth, low-latency perception, yet the bring-up process, especially with the latest SoCs, frequently requires weeks of kernel-level optimisation and vendor-specific driver tuning.

Whether enabling SLAM (simultaneous location and mapping) navigation in AMRs, stereo depth perception for humanoid locomotion, or high-speed industrial inspection for robotic arms, developers face the same barriers:

• Desired cameras are often not supported on the preferred edge computing platforms
• Reference designs published by CPU vendors are not applicable
• High cost of camera enablement
• Camera drivers are not upgraded with the latest edge computer BSP and OS

Advantech is closing this gap through collaborations with Nvidia, Qualcomm, Intel and Rockchip. By mastering the driver and kernel requirements of each ecosystem, it provides production-ready, pre-validated GMSL drivers in association with camera vendors.

The firm’s AFE and ASR series support a broad portfolio of validated GMSL2/3 cameras, covering perception needs across different robot types. Developers can choose from 2D, stereo and 3D cameras made by Appro, Basler, D3 Embedded, E-Con, Framos, Innodisk, Leopard Imaging, Orbbec, Otobrite, RealSense, Sensing and StereoLabs.

Advantech (www.advantech.com) and the camera partners jointly provide design-in services that accelerate robotics vision development by supporting new camera SoC enablement, optimal sensor selection, image quality tuning and customised driver development. This collaboration streamlines integration and shortens development cycles while ensuring reliable and scalable deployment across diverse robotic platforms and applications.

At the centre of Advantech’s vision strategy is the One-Click installation package, which transforms camera integration from a complex engineering task into a simple, streamlined experience.

GMSL camera drivers are included and maintained in the board support packages (BSPs) of Advantech’s robotics controllers, particularly the AFE and ASR series. In addition, the drivers are provided as ROS nodes within the Robotic Suite, a complementary software package consisting of open-source toolkits such as ROS2 and Autoware, optimised AI inferencing SDKs, and sample codes for robotic applications.

Designed for real-time responsiveness and high‑performance edge AI processing, the AFE and ASR series deliver perception, motion control and multi‑sensor integration within a unified software environment. Turnkey GMSL enablement, continuous driver maintenance and streamlined sensor integration accelerate deployment across diverse robotic applications.

The AFE and ASR series are available as commercial off-the-shelf carrier boards and system-level products built on processor platforms, including Nvidia Jetson Thor, Jetson AGX Orin, Jetson Orin NX, Qualcomm Robotics platforms such as the IQ9 series, Intel Core Ultra processors, and Rockchip RK3588‑based offerings. This broad platform coverage enables design flexibility, modular scalability and long lifecycle availability, providing robotics developers with a stable foundation for building autonomous systems.

For autonomous vehicles in harsh environments, platforms such as ASR-A701 and AFE-R750 leverage Jetson Orin (AGX/NX), delivering up to 275Tops for reliable perception and control in extreme conditions.

In drone applications, the ASR-D501 drone platform, based on Qualcomm QCS6490 (12Tops), enables efficient and intelligent operations for agriculture and inspection.

Logistics automation is supported by the ASR-A503 and AFE-A503, powered by Qualcomm QCS9075M (100Tops), providing high-performance products for AMR warehouse lifters and streamlined material handling. For cleaning and flexible service robotics, the AFE-R770 uses Intel Core processors with optional AI modules, offering adaptable performance for commercial environments.

At the high end, humanoid robotics platforms ASR-A702 and AFE-A702, powered by Jetson AGX Thor 5000 and 4000 (up to 2070Tops), enable autonomy and complex human-like interactions.

Together, these deliver scalable, application-specific AI platforms that accelerate the deployment of robotics across industries.