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Comment by andymoe | Hacker News Reader

I don't think the operating system to connect the worlds drones is going to be closed source. 3DR and their open source base is going to give Airware a run for their money as the de facto standard "operating system for drones" in the consumer and more and more in the commercial space.

In the meantime people like Drone Deploy and Skycatch will fill the gap when it comes to data collection and processing which is where the real business is long term. Drones themselves will continue to become a commodity. Also, it's worth remembering that a Chinese company, DJI, has about 80Pct market share in the US for consumer and prosumer drones. Lots of competition for everyone.

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3DR's software doesn't compete in the commercial space. It's a hobbyist platform and it will be much harder to certify by the FAA or other agencies. That is a huge portion of being successful in the space. Especially when you're doing things that have more risk, like photographing electrical infrastructure in a densely populated region. The FAA is going to be the agency that determines if you can do that, and the companies that has that advantage will win the space.

it's just a matter of time before the open source platforms add in the features required for FAA etc approvals.

All the other components (aside from flight controllers and chassis) are already OEM hobby items anyway, just photographed and put into a flashy brochure. It's not a big step to FAA approvals, despite the fanfare this seems to attract.

Maybe it will be difficult to fully certify in the way you are thinking but the definition of "Commercial" is certainly going to be changing as rules for drones under 55lbs are finalized in the US as they already have been elsewhere. I think the space Airware will be able to compete successfully in with their current strategy will shrink as those rules get formalized and "hobbyist" platforms are used to do more and more real work. (Not that I don't wish them the best of luck - there are great folks over at Airware.)

Are you implying that 3DR drones use a different software?

There is no reason why it would be any more difficult to certify then Airware. The 3DR stuff is already more then capable todo the task and 3DR sells in the commercial space. Source: I've personally done multiple long range (many miles) autonomous missions and landed within 3ft of the target landing zone, I have hundreds of hours of flight time with many different platforms (Naze32, APM, Pixhawk, DJI).

Maybe a stupid question, but how exactly do you "personally" do "autonomous" missions? Isn't it a one-or-the-other sort of thing?

If drones could build themselves, program themselves charge themselves etc.. then maybe it would be one or the other. For the time being someone needs to do those things so while it might be autonomous as far as flying goes there is still much human interaction to be had.

What do you mean by "hobbyist"? 3DR itself has commercial operations as well, not to mention the countless users of the components in various industries.

Certification will come from companies using the off-the-shelf components. Most likely privately.

Agree. And a standard is already emerging for quadcopters with OpenPilot's CC3D platform. That's already pretty solid and has a very healthy release rate / dev community around it.

I think Airware is going to pull a Meeraki and transition to focusing on the management portion of a solution.

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