Linux Foundation DroneCode Project Wants Open Source Drone Platform

The Linux Foundation has announced the formation of the DroneCode Project, which aims to unite existing open source drone projects and create a common shared platform for drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).

The non-profit organisation says the DroneCode project will provide a growing development community with neutral governance and tools to help explore existing and future opportunities for drones, which are currently primarily used by the defence and commercial sectors.

These include environmental research, wildlife conversation and search and rescue operations, but there is also recognition that drones provide opportunities for businesses, especially data analysis, storage and display applications.

Linux Founcation DroneCode

Founding members of the project includ, Box, DroneDeploy, jDrones, Laser Navigation, SkyWard, Squadrone System, Walkera and Yunee, as well as 3D Robotics, which has until now hosted the APM UAV software platform. APM will be incorporated into Dronecode, as will the PX4 project, led by Lorenz Meier, from ETH, the Technical University of Zurich.

The DroneCode board is comprised of tech community members with the Technical Steering Committee (TSC) composed of project leads and maintainers from top level projects and headed up by Andrew Tridgell, who is lead maintainer in the development of APM.

“Open source software and collaborative development are advancing technologies in the hottest, most cutting-edge areas. The Dronecode Project is a perfect example of this,” says Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation. “By becoming a Linux Foundation Collaborative Project, the Dronecode community will receive the support required of a massive project right at its moment of breakthrough. The result will be even greater innovation and a common platform for drone and robotics open source projects.”

Amazon is currently trialling the use of drones to deliver packages to customers in remote areas, while Google is also developing its own fleet as part of ‘Project Wing’. Facebook is another tech firm taking a keen interest in UAVs, hoping that drones can boost its Internet.org initiative, which aims to spread global connectivity.

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