I have always been fascinated about flying objects. But when it comes to building it, there is no such standard platform where we can continue building great stuff. No more pain from now on, thanks to the Dronecode Project.
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Dronecode
So, what is Dronecode?
The Dronecode Project is an open source, collaborative project that aims to build a common, shared open source platform for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). This project is governed by the Linux Foundation & it is one of the Linux Foundation Collaborative Projects. The main mission of the project is to bring together various existing & future open source drone projects and provide the necessary tools and softwares to operators to deploy drones for various applications including its commercial usage.
History
It all started when Chris Anderson, co-founder of 3DR felt the need for standardization of the UAV platform. He partnered with Linux Foundation to start the Dronecode Project in 2014.
Present status
Today the Dronecode Project has more than 1200 developers, the code repository receives almost 150 commits per day on some projects and the project boasts of lots of active users. The project has close to 40 members including big names in industry such as 3DR, Qualcomm, Intel & many more.
Dronecode Technology
The Dronecode ecosystem encompasses lots of projects concerned with the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in both hardware & software domain.
Software
The software domain of Dronecode platform includes softwares for both on-board vehicle usage & off vehicle usage.
The on-board vehicle usage softwares includes the communication protocols, APIs, flight code & the firmware. The most popular APIs supported by the Dronecode platform are the DroneKit & the ROS. The MAVLink & the UAVCAN form the most important communication protocols of the Dronecode platform. Regarding the flight code, even today, the APM & PX4 remain as the popular platform among the flying enthusiasts. These two flight codes are supported by the Dronecode Project & are being developed continuously. The ground control stations compatible with the Dronecode project are QGroundControl, Mission Planner, APM Planner, AndroPilot & many more.
The Dronecode platform also supports simulators such as the JmavSim, SITL (software in the loop) & the ROS Gazebo Simulator. These simulators provide the users with virtual environments for testing & also acts as a platform for newbies to learn the art of flying drones.
There are still lot of flight data or log analysis tools being developed for advanced controls.
Hardware
The Dronecode Project also supports lots of open source hardware stuff. Among them the autopilot boards, telemetry radios, ESC (Electronic Speed Control), optical flow sensors, antenna trackers deserve special mention.
Talking about the autopilot development boards the most popular are the APM 2.x & the Pixhawk. The Pixhawk is more powerful & packs in lot of memory when compared to the APM 2.x. These autopilot boards guide vehicles in both human-assisted & fully-autonomous operation.
Applications
The potential for drones to have an impact on our lives is just now hitting the mainstream. Drones are finding new ways of usage ranging from search & rescue, agriculture, mapping & surveying, photography & film, ecological studies (from tracking endangered species to tracking hurricanes) and lots of undiscovered territories. Hence the impact the Dronecode Project can have is massive.
A lot of amazing applications have been demonstrated using the Dronecode ecosystem in conjunction with various computer vision algorithms deployed on the sister Linux embedded system. The automatic landing of drones, obstacle detection, autonomous flights etc are few examples. Drones are even being utilized to deliver packages at customer’s door steps. Drones are nowadays being used for precision farming, for monitoring the agricultural activities & to study various environmental factors and their impact.
It’s the right time that you too, get started!