Qualcomm to build robotics lab at U. City's Pennovation Works complex

Qualcomm Inc. of San Diego plans a new 10,000-square-foot robotics lab on the University of Pennsylvania's 23-acre Pennovation Works business-and-technology campus, the university said in a release on Monday.

The Qualcomm Research Philadelphia facility, which is being leased on a five-year term, will adjoin the campus's existing Pennovation Center building when complete in spring 2017, according to the release.

The new lab, which is to includes high bay ceilings for indoor aerial robotics, robotic engineering labs, and office space, will be Qualcomm's 10th research-and-development center worldwide, the university said.

The lab will build on Qualcomm's existing presence at Penn dating from its 2015 acquisition of KMel Robotics, a developer of propeller-driven robots based at the university, according to the release.