Open-source software (OSS) and hardware (OSH) in UAVs

Abstract

The popularity of the Open Source Tool (OST) has expanded significantly. This is the case for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) based on open-source hardware (OSH) as well. Open-source software (OSS) and OSH can be applied in a wide range of applications and can improve several technologies. The chapter begins with an introduction to OSS depicting its rationale, description of fundamental differences between OSS and proprietary software (PS), what benefits OSSs provide to overall UAV community, the motives leading people to pick up an OSS instead of a PS, which helps the academic and research community. This chapter also covers some OSSs used within the UAV community to support all aspects of UAV technology and the Remote Sensing (RS) and photogrammetry data post-processing chain. It is possible to build fully autonomous and operational UAV based only on OSH and OSS. The chapter describes the state of the art for OSS widely used in UAV technology, the software used in all aspects of UAV technology such as ARDUPILOT-based Autopilot firmware, MISSION PLANNER-based ground station, OPENTX transmitter software, MINIM On-Screen Data (OSD) software, Open Drone Map photogrammetry data processing suite, Web drone data-processing suite WebODM. This chapter describes several concepts and characteristics of open software/hardware, built-in functions, and particular features as well as platform requirements. A typical UAV photogrammetry workflow for drone construction with flight planning/execution and OSS data processing is provided.