With full commercial integration of UAS on the horizon for 2015, open-source projects like ours have the potential to erradicate barriers to entry into the UAS marketplace.
The regulations involved with getting software certified by the FAA are pretty intense, but is it really anything that an open-source community can't handle? This place is chock full of people who are passionate about unmanned systems, and more than just a few who really know their stuff. As an engineering student, I'd be willing to do some of the paperwork myself, just for the bullet point on my resume, and I know I'm not alone.
Moreover, because of all the work that's been put in by guys like Mick, our GCS has got most of the capabilities the big boys have, like HiL simulation. Depending on how D)-178C pans out with using simulation environments for some of the system validation, it might even make it easier for us to get our projects stamped than it would be otherwise.
If we went through the process ourselves, using community resources, we could get our FAA stamp for a helluva lot less money than it would cost the people who pushed for the regulations in the first place. While they pay millions in salary to validate their own systems, our manpower is free.
Chris just got 5 million dollars in venture capital. With us helping on the legwork, and him putting the money towards greasing the right palms, every single one of us could own an aerospace company in five years, powered by 3D Robotics hardware.
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There is alot of correct and incorrect information in this thread.
First:
DO-254 = Hardware
DO-178C = Software
I can speak for the software side of things from experience, hardware is not my expertise.
To clarify some points:
This has been a really educational experience for me. Thanks to Stephen and Chris A. for coming in and setting the record straight.
So the way I understand this now, is that anyone can come in and grab the code, and run it through the certification process. Whether they change the code or not, the certification process is basically value added that is frozen to their now-closed branch of the code. So even if they kick whatever improvements they made back to the community, and that code goes into the trunk, the trunk does not become certified by extension. Is that correct?
To me, that creates value for the company who goes through the certification process, since the value they added basically remains their property. I could say that's a good thing since they are trying to start a for-profit business, and they are putting in the resources and effort to take that next step.
Pretty cool stuff.