The meetup held on July 8, 2025, in Guadalajara, Mexico, was a truly memorable event hosted by the always supportive NXP Semiconductor family. It brought together nearly 60 attendees in person from the Guadalajara metropolitan region, with developers from across Academia and Industry joining us for an evening of embedded talks with varying topics from RTOS to Flying Robots.
The event kicked off with networking fueled by snacks and drinks, but most importantly, project swag and cool demos featuring the open source projects on display, capturing the attention of everyone. This was followed by the welcome address and first talk by our speaker and host Ramón Roche.
Welcome Note & Zephyr: Open Source Project Best Practices Over Time – Ramón Roche, The Linux Foundation
This talk provided attendees with a comprehensive overview of the Zephyr project, highlighting its meteoric rise to the top due to its focus on best practices and safety. It showcased the Zephyr ecosystem and offered pathways for collaboration within the local community.
Getting started with Zephyr on NXP MCX microcontrollers – Missael Maciel, NXP Semiconductor
Missael demonstrated Zephyr in action with a live demonstration using an NXP board, and a comprehensive tutorial on the use of VSCode paired with NXP plugins for ease of use, showing developers how to make the most out of the predefined Devicetree configurations available for a given board.
After this, the group enjoyed a lively break, enjoying Pizza and drinks sponsored by our gracious host, NXP, while the next speaker set up on stage.
Dronecode: A Decade of Open Source Autonomy – Ramón Roche, The Linux Foundation
After the break, Ramón followed up with a detailed overview of the field of Aerial Robotics and the role of the Dronecode Foundation, stewarding innovation with open technologies, including a deep dive into the Dronecode stack, from firmware to hardware, flying by middleware, telemetry, and ground station apps.
QZPro: The game changer for fast and easy development – Alexis Guijarro and Leonardo Garcia, 3DR
Giveaway Quiz
The 3DR team showcased the newly released Zephyr & PX4-capable drone platform called the QZPro, featuring multiple microcontrollers and the OpenMV project exposing a MicroPython interface for extendability and highlighting the numerous benefits of using open source.
Thank you, NXP Semiconductor team!
We are especially grateful to the NXP Semiconductor team for hosting the event at their Guadalajara campus, for sponsoring the food and beverages, and for being a fantastic steward for open source collaboration in Mexico and beyond.
Looking Ahead
The Guadalajara meetup was a success on so many levels. The Mexican robotics community showed up in numbers to share their knowledge and show their support for the PX4 and Zephyr communities. As our first joint meetup, this proved that collaboration doesn’t only exist within a project, but multiple projects can work together to expand the possibilities for everyone.
Next Meetup
Join us for an exciting joint ROS / Dronecode Foundation meetup in Los Angeles! This special event, hosted by Kat Scott and Ramon Roche, will take place following the IEEE International Conference on Space Mission Challenges for Information Technology, on July 31, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm It’s an excellent chance to meet fellow developers, researchers, and enthusiasts while exploring the latest in robotics and unmanned systems. Whether you’re working on autonomous vehicles, aerial robotics, or cutting-edge ROS applications, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to learn, collaborate, and build meaningful connections.
