CADDrones Sets Online UAV Collaboration Free

One of the fastest growing open-source UAV hobbyist sources is discovering that the best things in drone life are free.

CADDrones.com, the brainchild of 23-year-old college student, announced this week that the online clearinghouse, which allows UAV hobbyists to share ideas, projects, drawings and 3D models primarily centered on CAD software like Autodesk Fusion, will move from a pay-subscription model to a free community. Any member who joins now will have full access to every feature free of charge.

“Our goal is to make CAD, 3D Printing, and Drones come together and build an amazing community and tool that is useful for people of all skill levels at the same time,” said CADDrone’s founder Joshua Jackson, adding that the company is currently in the process of applying for an Open Source License with the “Open Source Initiative” at OpenSource.org.

Johnson applied the grassroots project approach most recently to develop CAD Quad, a 3D-printable multi-rotor drone for hobbyists. Once the project is live, users will be able to download spec files, documentation, 3D visualizations and other open-source resources on the project. CADDrone also helped launch All-in-One Drone Parachute Recovery Pack. The product includes a parachute, parachute pack, and spring pop chute and gives drone users peace of mind should their UAV fail midflight.

Johnson said that now that his company is abandoning a pay model, they would not be able to hire contractors but would instead rely on volunteers. Johnson added that CADDrones is seeking wiki admins, chatroom moderators, event admins, CAD and 3D printing drone specialists, community moderators, 3x Web developers and 7x software programmers.

“Growing up I always had a passion for robotics and remote controlled vehicles. I’ve always wanted do something with my adult life associated with either of those two childhood passions,” Johnson said. Those twin passions brought Johnson to the attention of 3D Robotics founder Chris Anderson, who appointed Johnson assistant administrator of Anderson’s online community DIYDrones.com.

Now, Johnson says his company is looking for people with a similar passion: “We need help from anyone who has been through this process or is willing to volunteer efforts into helping us draft a perfect Open Source License for our community. We’re hoping that as our free community grows our members will find interest in volunteering for one of the open positions below.”