D-Robotics Enters Consumer Drone Market with AI Chip in New Antigravity A1
D-Robotics is entering the consumer drone market by supplying the core processing unit for the new Antigravity A1, a panoramic drone launched by a team backed by Shenzhen Arashi Vision, widely known as Insta360. The move marks D-Robotics' first commercial application in consumer drones and a significant milestone in expanding its AI chip technology into new robotics scenarios.
The Antigravity A1 drone, marketed with the concept of "fly first, frame later," integrates 360-degree panoramic imaging with immersive flight capabilities. It is powered by D-Robotics' new-generation Sunrise 5 intelligent computing chip, which provides advanced AI-powered visual perception and obstacle avoidance.
The drone's design, featuring dual panoramic fisheye lenses, requires significant processing power to simultaneously handle multiple data streams, including imaging from all sensors, real-time video stitching, and flight control. The Sunrise 5 chip delivers up to 10 TOPS of AI computing power, enabling sophisticated functions like AI-based multi-camera depth perception and providing optimizations for modern environmental sensing algorithms. This enhances the drone’s flight stability and navigation accuracy.
A key feature of the Sunrise 5 is its heterogeneous computing architecture, which combines a BPU, CPU, GPU, and DSP. This integrated "four-in-one" design allows for efficient on-device processing, simplifying the drone's system architecture and reducing development complexity. The chip’s power efficiency also minimizes heat generation, a critical factor that helped developers keep the Antigravity A1’s weight at 249 grams, meeting the standard for micro-drones.
The collaboration comes as China's consumer drone market, which exceeded RMB 50 billion yuan (US$6.9 billion) in 2024, is shifting toward a phase of intense competition and innovation amid slowing growth. The Antigravity A1 aims to address existing market pain points, such as limited shooting perspectives and steep learning curves, by simplifying the creation of complex aerial shots.
D-Robotics and the Antigravity team collaborated closely to develop what they term an "assisted-driving level flight brain," focusing on autonomous obstacle avoidance and intelligent tracking. This allows users to focus on creativity rather than complex piloting.
The Antigravity A1 is expected to begin trial sales in select markets in the fourth quarter of 2025. It will be officially showcased at the D-Robotics Developer Conference (DDC 2025) in Shenzhen on November 21.