Depending on their design, drones can deploy different skills, but one area with huge optimization potential is their software. We've previously seen initiatives that aim to turn drone code into an open platform, and that's how we find ourselves today with the Erle-Copter, developed by the Spanish company Erle Robotics, which runs Snappy Ubuntu Core and supports running custom applications.
From Toasters to Drones: The Internet of Things
In recent years, manufacturers have done everything they can to turn their products into computers. Televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, coffee machines, lights, kitchens, dog collars, and even toilets - nothing seems to escape this digital assimilation. The official name is "Internet of Things", and companies seem far more interested than users. The feeling is that they're complicating things instead of simplifying them, and nobody knows exactly where the limit lies. Now we've reached drones. What was once a close relationship between drone and pilot is now opening doors and windows for hardware and software optimizations. A good example is the Erle-Copter, which carries the compact Snappy Ubuntu Core variant inside.
What Ubuntu Brings to a Drone
As always happens in these cases, the theory is quite good. With a robust platform like Ubuntu, the Erle-Copter drone can access all kinds of updates, staying stable and secure without much intervention from the user. Many developers feel comfortable with Snappy Ubuntu, and it's estimated that we'll soon see it in places like network switches and some General Electric refrigerators. But what can it offer a drone like the Erle-Copter? In short: apps. Any interested developer can create applications (called "behaviors" by the manufacturer) using the Robot Operating System framework, and load them onto the drone from any device through a browser.
A Drone, Ubuntu, and Apps
A drone, Ubuntu, and apps. Fitting these three pieces together seems confusing at first, but the more we think about it, the more sense it makes. Any update of Ubuntu security will protect the Erle-Copter from possible attacks, and for the apps we imagine things like specific flight patterns, or why not, an "economic flight" mode that reduces the drone's performance to lower battery consumption. How do we get access to this? Simply by buying the Erle-Copter, with a price of 399 euros.
