The world leader in aerial technology couldn’t have skipped CES 2016, as this is a great opportunity for any tech company to announce its latest developments. Not only did DJI kick off their annual developer challenge, but it also launched a new version of the mobile SDK, thus enabling people to increase the number of applications for drones.
The DJI Developer Challenge is already at its third edition this year, and the UAV developer must’ve seen this as a good occasion to upgrade its mobile software development kit to version 3.0.
“Various industries are starting to realize how capable and powerful unmanned aerial vehicles can be,” stated Robert Schlub, Vice President of Research and Development at DJI. “As usage cases arise, there will be a growing need for applications. With our developer challenge and new SDK, DJI is doing its utmost to foster an environment that’s conducive to development and creation of those applications.”
For the 2016 DJI Developer Challenge, the company teamed up with Ford Motor Company and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and announced that the theme would be the use of drones by emergency response units. The participants will have to perform a mock search-and-rescue mission, and depending on the way their solution is implemented, they can get a change at winning the prize. The winning team, comprised of students and developers from all over the world, will get to take home $100,000.
There are some requirements regarding the application. First of all, the drone needs to be able to autonomously take off from a vehicle in motion. It goes without saying that this would be tremendously helpful for emergency response units, as they wouldn’t need to stop the vehicle for the drone to take off. Secondly, the drone should be capable to perform vision guided flight, and thirdly, it needs to be able to recognize objects and identify the location of survivors, in order to relay it to the computing device in the vehicle.
As for the mobile SDK, the new version is meant to provide users more control over the UAV’s camera, gimbal, flight status system, flight control data and intelligent flight missions, or in fewer words, most of the drone’s onboard systems. Some of the new features include the removal of developer levels, Mission Manager and Custom Missions, and Bridge App and Remote Logger functionalities for iOS.
“DJI’s support for the startup and developer communities has not only meant creation of new UAV applications, but also new business opportunities for different industries, such as ground inspection, 3D mapping and inventory-tracking,” commented Schlub. “The new mobile SDK will remove many pain points for developers. The new architecture will enable developers to identify problems quicker and create better applications for their customers.”
To download the Mobile SDK 3.0, head over to https://developer.dji.com startin on January 9.
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