Propelling the U.S. Drone Industry Forward with Dronecode Foundation

2021 could be the year that the U.S. drone industry thrives. After spending 10+ years in the robotics and drone space, I’m thrilled to see how quickly the drone industry has grown within the past year, and I am optimistic about drones’ emerging role in society. In 2020 alone, we’ve seen how drones have proven to be an integral part of helping us get through the pandemic, and have garnered interest from the government and major companies.

I’ve personally felt the impact of the industry’s productivity transformation, as I witnessed the Snapdragon Flight, the predecessor to ModalAI’s flagship VOXL, launch on its way to Mars to help navigate NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter. Our company, ModalAI, is also anticipating rapid growth in 2021 as the demand for drone technology made in the U.S.A. increased as a result of the 2020 NDAA Section 848 Act.

To kick off the New Year, I am excited to join the Dronecode Foundation’s Board of Directors. Dronecode is an integral part of the drone industry and fosters community and innovation through open-standards and open-source. I look forward to working with the Dronecode team and fellow board members to keep up the momentum and propel the U.S. drone industry forward this year.

ModalAI has been a Silver member of the Dronecode Foundation since 2019, and has committed to advancing the U.S. drone industry by providing Blue UAS Framework autopilots for drones and ground robots made in the USA. We are constantly evolving our open drone perception and communications systems to contribute to, and maintain compatibility with, Dronecode hosted projects like PX4, QGroundControl and MAVROS.

To learn more about the Dronecode Foundation, visit their website at https://dronecode.org and sign up for their newsletter to stay in the loop of all things open-source.