The need and desire for software standards in the drone space is something we’ve talked about for a long while, but the challenges associated with establishing such things remain pervasive. These challenges are why the work of the Dronecode Foundation is so important. The vendor-neutral foundation for open source drone projects is committed to enabling the widespread adoption and acceleration of open standards that will provide a baseline for the commercial application of drone technology in countless industries. These efforts are why the news about the appointment of three new directors elected to its Board of Directors is so notable.

Joining senior board members Kevin Sartori, Co-Founder of Auterion, and Lorenz Meier, Dronecode Chairman and Auterion CEO, the appointment of Paul Stubbs, Chad Sweet and Hyon Lim to the Dronecode Foundation’s Board of Directors will help the organization define new open standards for flight controllers, smart batteries, and payloads. All of them believe in the open-source model and are committed to continuing to build a healthy ecosystem around the PX4 Autopilot and Pixhawk hardware standards, which have already made a difference in the industry.

“The DoD’s Blue sUAS program relies on open source projects like MAVLink, and QGroundControl, and benefits from crucial hardware components that can be readily produced by following the latest Pixhawk Standards,” said Ramon Roche, Program Manager at Dronecode. “These new standards are also making it easier for anyone to build a compatible vehicle thanks to open-source.”

All three new board members have deep connections to the drone industry that span numerous sectors and applications. Stubbs is currently a Director of AI & Innovation Marketing for the Microsoft Business AI team while Chad Sweet is the co-founder and CEO of ModalAIⓇ . Hyon Lim is the CEO and co-founder of UVify. Their work with the Dronecode Foundation is connected to the very core mission of the organization that will be able to take shape in a more powerful way thanks to their efforts.

“We want to lower the barriers of entry for new adopters of our open source projects,” Roche told Commercial UAV News. We hope to make it easier for new players to join us and open more collaboration opportunities between the ecosystem.”

Terms for the new board members are set to begin immediately and run through January 2022. You can learn more about Dronecode’s mission to promote innovation through open source and open standards in the drone industry by visiting their site.