Lantronix, a global provider of Edge Intelligence and Industrial IoT solutions that power NDAA-compliant unmanned systems, critical infrastructure and resilient enterprise networks, introduced Spotter, a compact, cost-effective robotics platform that gives drone and robot makers the onboard compute, sensing and vehicle control to run autonomy. Lantronix is previewing Spotter this week at AUSA 2026 in Washington, D.C., with availability in the fourth quarter of calendar 2026.
Autonomy has become the defining requirement for unmanned systems, as operators manage more vehicles at once and coordinated swarms move from demonstrations to deployment. Yet a gap in the compute market has left builders with two poor options: low-end embedded boards that can’t run meaningful AI, or GPU platforms whose cost, power and size make little sense for small, often attritable vehicles. Too many autonomy programs stall in that gap. Spotter was built to close it.
“Drone and robotics companies shouldn’t have to choose between a board that can’t think and a platform they can’t afford to put on every vehicle,” said Saleel Awsare, president and CEO of Lantronix. “Spotter gives them the right amount of AI at the right size, power and cost, so they can stop wrestling with hardware and start deploying autonomy.”
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Built for Autonomy, Not Adapted to It
Powered by the Qualcomm® Dragonwing™ QCS6490, Spotter delivers up to 12.5 TOPS of AI performance at single digit watts on a 42 x 120 mm board. Unlike general-purpose development kits, it is engineered for drones and mobile robots, combining AI, vision, flight-grade sensing and vehicle control on one board. It retrofits into existing aerial, ground and maritime platforms or anchors new designs, supports PX4, ArduPilot, Betaflight and MAVLink, and leaves customers in full control of their own autonomy and mission software. Built on the Lantronix Open-Q™ 6490 system on module and backed by Lantronix unmanned systems engineering services, Spotter gives OEMs a production-ready path from prototype to fielded fleet. Spotter builds on a track record defense programs already trust, with Lantronix compute flying today in Blue UAS–approved drones.
“With Spotter, Lantronix moves from supplying compute to delivering the platform autonomy is built on,” said Awsare. “Customers can fly on day one and focus their engineers on the software that sets their vehicles apart.”
SOURCE: Globenewswire
