Introducing MAVSDK

July 18, 2019

VTOL operations

Introducing MAVSDK, the SDK to control drones over MAVLink. 

In the past few weeks, the open source Dronecode SDK has moved to a new home in the MAVLink Github organization, and been reborn (renamed) as MAVSDK! All of the code migration work has now been done, along with a new release (0.18.0), logo, URL (mavsdk.mavlink.io), and updated documentation.

The move has been driven by a number of factors, most importantly that the SDK can have the greatest impact if it is hosted within MAVLink. This change clearly positions it as the reference implementation for the common microservices and should make it much easier for other systems to determine if they are compliant. MAVSDK will continue to enable custom APIs and behavior through external plugins, but the focus will very much be on compatibility, stability, and ease of use.

MAVSDK is the easiest way to control drones over MAVLink. It is a set of libraries in different programming languages that provide a high-level API to MAVLink, providing easy to learn programmatic access to vehicle information and telemetry, as well as control over missions, movement, and payloads.

It includes all the features of the previous release, along with many improvements. In particular, the new release makes it much easier to build the C++ core and provides pre-built Python libraries that can be installed in the normal way: pip install mavsdk. A Python developer can now install MAVSDK and run their first script within a few minutes.

Auterion, as the largest contributor to the project, is committed to investing and maintaining the SDK. We see the importance of a performant and rock-solid integration point for leveraging the power of offboard computing and accessing multiple payloads. We will provide seamless integration with it for our customers and partners so that they don’t have to bother with maintaining it.

Resources to get started:

Learn more about the MAVSDK product.