SDKs | How can they help me get the most out of my Enterprise Drone?
Not too long ago, harnessing drone technology was a complicated process.Luckily, manufacturers around the world have worked hard to simplify the processes needed to get the most out of your drone.
Thanks to the recent advancements in Drone technology the hardware available today is reliable, accessible and highly capable.
Image stabilisation, battery technology, computer vision, and autonomous flight are just a few examples of what you find in complete packages sold by manufacturers across the world today.And with those advances has come demand. It seems as though everyone now sees/ wants to tap into the potential of drone technology. Many conventional tasks can be done with off the shelf hardware and software.
But for those looking to innovate and develop new solutions, the major drone manufacturers have released software development kits (SDK) in an effort to aid customisation of their technology.
SDK stands for software development kit or devkit for short. It’s a set of software tools and programs used by developers to create applications for specific platforms. ( in this case, Drones.)
SDK tools include a range of things, including libraries, documentation, code samples, processes, and guides that developers can use and integrate into their own apps. They are designed to be used for specific platforms or programming languages. Making them a Must Have for certain enterprises.
The DJI SDKs are actually great in the features that they offer because of how they come with different automated functions such as obstacle evasion and even live video feed, which will allow you to maximise your DJI drone's amazing camera capabilities.
DRONE KIT:
A good programmable drone kit that you can buy is DroneKit, which is an SDK that you can easily download using your Android mobile device. This SDK is designed to create your own Android control application; as long as you have yourself armed with the basic knowledge of high-level programming.
DroneKit SDKs are absolutely free and open-source.
The good thing about DroneKit is that it comes with all of the basic features you need when it comes to the controls of your drone. This includes intelligent flight path planning and other autonomous features. And because it is open-source, you can browse and utilise different codes that other programmers have used for their own drones.
Note: There is no customer support when it comes to DroneKit. 😬
ALTERNATIVE BRANDS:
It is important to know Parrot, Skydio and Yuneec also have their own specific software development kits, however they are model specific.
What specific industries can directly benefit from this level of drone customisation?
Conservation: Aerial multispectral data can be used to monitor plant and tree health as well as water mapping to better understand how water moves through an area.
Here are the current top commercial drones available for each sector :
As the drone technology has become more durable, reliable, and accessible, the world has seen unmanned systems deployed in increasingly diverse environments, industries, and scenarios.
And across these, with our without the use of SDKs , the common denominator is that drones are helping pioneering professionals work safer, smarter, and faster. And that's pretty cool.