DJI Releases Sleek New Kit for Drone Developers

DJI, the world’s largest drone manufacturer, unveiled a major upgrade in its software development toolkit last week during the Chinese company’s AirWorks conference in San Francisco.

In a press release, company officials said its new software enhancements will allow developers to build on each other’s work via DJI’s Mobile and Onboard Software Development Kit (SDK).

“Drones are transforming industries from construction to surveying to agriculture to public safety, and the innovations we’ve seen so far have just scratched the surface of how drones can help enterprises work faster, safer, more efficiently and at a lower cost,” DJI Director of Strategic Partnerships Michael Perry said.

“DJI wants to help developers implement great new drone functions, and we’re excited to expand their ability to build exciting new custom applications,” Perry added.  The SDK will offer several new features for developers including interface libraries designed to accelerate mobile app development as well as sleeker onboard trajectory planning and control framework for complex missions.

In addition to the ramped up SDK, DJI introduced a new flight app that will enhance the development of 2D and 3D maps.

Software Development Kit releases and other developer programs have become a natural extension of the drone landscape across the industry for both hardware manufacturers as well as pure software companies.

Last week, industrial-drone automation firm Airobotics launched a new software development program the Israeli company says will allow customers to work smarter with customizable new UAV mission programs. The SDK empowers third-party customers to design and develop software that can be integrated into the company’s end-to-end, automatic aerial data collection solutions.

Recently, cloud-based drone software firm DroneDeploy unveiled the DroneDeploy App Market, the first app store exclusively for drones. The new service has launched with more than 15 inaugural apps including offerings from Autodesk, John Deere, Airmap, and Skyward.

For DJI, flying into the SDK realm is a natural symbiotic outcome that will benefit companies and users. “We want developers to focus their energy on pioneering new applications, not on duplicating efforts by creating another user interface,” said Robert Schlub, DJI Vice President of Research and Development. “This is an opportunity for DJI to make the process more efficient for everyone, so developers can quickly prototype and deploy apps that integrate our platforms into their workflow.”