Zurich, Switzerland — June 20, 2019 — The Dronecode Project (Dronecode), home to open source projects like the PX4 Autopilot and the MAVLink protocol, today is celebrating the start of the first-ever PX4 Developer Summit at ETH Zürich, and has announced that Microsoft, ModalAI and Teal have joined as members to support the open source ecosystem.
Microsoft Joins as a Gold member
Microsoft, a Platinum Linux Foundation member and a strong supporter of open source, joins Dronecode to help advance the open source drone ecosystem, bringing AirSim their advanced simulator to the ecosystem, marking a significant milestone in drone development, unlocking the future of vision-enabled autonomous vehicles.
“The PX4 Autopilot has the largest ecosystem in drone development, with a growing number of commercial adopters, and extensive use in research. Microsoft is thrilled to join the PX4 family and to support PX4 through Dronecode.” Said Guada Casuso, Principal Program Manager.
ModalAI Joins as a Silver member
The San Diego based ModalAI team believes the open source PX4 Autopilot is the path to success in the enterprise drone ecosystem. VOXL, the companion computer, and autopilot platforms ModalAI is developing will be fully integrated into PX4 software stack. These platforms will enable machine vision-based and cellular-connected navigation for state-of-the-art autonomous operation beyond visual line of sight.
“PX4 is the de facto standard for drones. ModalAI looks forward to contributing hardware and software development to advance the growing, open-source PX4 ecosystem.”, said Chad Sweet, CEO of ModalAI.
Teal Joins as a Silver member.
Teal is an original design manufacturer of hardware and software drone platforms based in the US. Having launched products in the consumer market with the Teal Sport and the Teal One, the company has now expanded its reach into enterprise and defense, leveraging the Teal platform. Teal is a venture-backed company with its entire team based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is proud to be manufacturing in the US.
“Teal is excited to be supporting the PX4 community and helping to build a strong ecosystem around open source. Teal believes in a future where drones are ubiquitous and positive things in our lives. The work being done in open source and PX4 will be an enabling factor of this future.”, said George Matus, CEO of Teal.
About Dronecode
Dronecode is home to the PX4 autopilot, the MAVLink protocol, QGroundControl, and MAVSDK. Dronecode is a US-based non-profit hosted by The Linux Foundation and is community funded through yearly memberships by companies who support open source.
The organization provides neutral and transparent governance to open source projects and their adjacent communities, offers a framework for inclusive collaboration on open standards, funds services used to develop and distribute releases, and evangelizes to increase adoption and contributors to open source.
