SECO has entered a collaboration with US software company Peridio to make Avocado OS available across embedded computing platforms based on Qualcomm Dragonwing processors, targeting the development and deployment of industrial robots and physical AI systems.
Announced on 5 November, the arrangement combines SECO’s embedded hardware portfolio with Peridio’s commercially supported Linux distribution. Customers using the supported products will be able to obtain coordinated assistance covering the hardware, board support packages and operating system.
The collaboration is intended to reduce the work required to develop and maintain separate operating system configurations as equipment manufacturers move from prototype hardware to products deployed in the field.
Initial support covers SECO platforms built around Qualcomm Dragonwing IQ-X, IQ8 and QCS6490 processors, with the wider arrangement also identifying products based on IQ10 and IQ-2390 technology. The companies have not announced a single availability date for every hardware configuration.
The named products include the SOM-COMe-CT6-Dragonwing-IQ-X, SOM-SMARC-Dragonwing-IQ8 and SOM-SMARC-QCS6490 modules, alongside the SOM-COM-HPC-A-Dragonwing-IQ10 and SBC-Dragonwing-IQ-2390 platforms.
These products use different embedded computing formats and processor configurations. Equipment manufacturers can select a module or board according to requirements such as available interfaces, processing performance, physical dimensions and the integration method used within the finished machine.
A computer-on-module provides core computing functions on a compact assembly that is integrated into a wider system. The equipment manufacturer normally supplies a carrier board or other hardware arrangement providing the additional interfaces required for the application.
This approach can reduce the need to design every part of a computing subsystem from individual components. It also creates dependencies between the module, the carrier hardware and the software responsible for controlling connected devices.
Embedded Linux systems typically combine a kernel, operating system components, drivers and application software. The board support package provides the hardware-specific functions required to initialise the processor and make connected devices available to the operating system.
Hardware-specific code can become a maintenance burden when a manufacturer supports several processor families or computing modules. Changes in peripherals, accelerator interfaces and system configuration may require additional integration work, even where the higher-level robotics application performs similar tasks.
Avocado OS is intended to provide a common operating system foundation across compatible SECO hardware. The partnership will allow developers to retain more of their software environment when moving between supported platforms instead of establishing an entirely separate Linux configuration for each product.
That capability remains subject to the differences between the hardware configurations. Software using a particular processor feature, accelerator or external interface may still require changes when transferred to a platform without the same capabilities.
Robotics applications can make considerable demands on their computing architecture. A machine may process camera information, estimate the position of objects, plan movements, coordinate actuators and exchange data with other equipment during a single operating sequence.
Some functions require substantial computational throughput, particularly when image processing or machine learning models are involved. Others may depend on predictable response times, because their outputs are used to coordinate physical movement.
The operating system provides the foundation for running these workloads, but the performance of the complete robot depends on the processor, application software, communication interfaces and motion control architecture.
Using a supported Linux distribution does not by itself establish that an application meets a specified real-time deadline or a machinery safety requirement. Those characteristics must be verified within the system designed for the intended task.
SECO and Peridio will coordinate technical support covering hardware integration, the board support package and Avocado OS. This creates a defined arrangement for investigating problems that may involve more than one layer of the computing platform.
An application failure can originate from its own code, a device driver, the operating system or the underlying hardware. Coordinated support may reduce the work needed to determine which component is responsible, particularly during the development of a new embedded product.
The companies describe the arrangement as preferred joint support. They have not published specific response times, service level commitments or a guaranteed reduction in engineering costs.
Dario Freddi, SECO’s chief strategy officer and managing director for the United States, said the collaboration would broaden the operating system options available to customers developing physical AI products.
Bill Brock, chief executive of Peridio, emphasised the need for robotics developers to maintain a software environment across several hardware formats as products progress from development boards into commercial fleets.
Long-term software maintenance is a separate requirement from initial product development. Industrial equipment may remain installed for years, during which security vulnerabilities, compatibility problems and changes to application software need to be addressed.
Operating system updates must be tested against the device configuration because changes to drivers, libraries or other components can affect connected equipment. A commercial support arrangement can provide a route for managing those changes, although the responsibilities retained by the equipment manufacturer remain important.
The collaboration also concerns the transition from prototype development to series production. A design that performs correctly on an engineering evaluation kit may require additional work when integrated into a product with different power, cooling, storage or interface arrangements.
Production qualification can include testing under expected temperature conditions, assessing electrical behaviour and verifying that the software operates consistently across the manufacturing variations permitted by the hardware specification.
These requirements are relevant to mobile robots and autonomous industrial equipment, where computing hardware may operate inside compact enclosures with limited cooling and significant variation in electrical demand.
SECO has separately developed its Clea 2.0 platform for managing applications and connected edge devices. The Peridio agreement concerns the availability and support of an operating system on specified hardware, rather than a newly announced merger of the two software products.
The companies have not disclosed customer orders, an installed robot fleet or measured improvements in deployment time arising from the collaboration. The agreement establishes the supported hardware and operating system relationship through which those applications can subsequently be developed.
SECO will present embedded computing technologies at electronica 2026 in Munich from 10 to 13 November. The new partnership adds Avocado OS to the software options available for compatible Dragonwing-based products as equipment manufacturers qualify their designs for production.
