Last Sunday, Ukraine carried out one of the most bold and surprising actions in military history. It was possible thanks to Ardupilot, free and open source softwaredeveloped 20 years ago for Arduino plates.
A squad of 117 drones Ukrainians Thousands of kilometers were entered in Russia territory, and bombed three military bases. 41 Russian bombers destroyed, 34% of its entire fleet. The operation was planned for a year and a half, according to President Zelenski.
That autonomous drones, which barely cost a few thousand euros, have been able to destroy dozens of bombers valued in billions of euros, entering thousands of kilometers in enemy territory, it is considered A historical milestone that changes the way of making war.
Free software for drone fans, war hero
As a technological environment that we are, we leave the military and political issues parked, to focus on The technology after this surprising attack.
In the opening photo of the news you can see the drones that were used. Commercial models that anyone can buy in a store for a few hundred euros. Although yes, modified to carry bombs and other military systems.
The most surprising thing about all is the software that Ukraine intelligence services have used to control drones. It’s about ArduPilotopen source software that anyone can download for free, very popular among drone fans.
It has been adapted to function in all types of flying mills: multi -lop, traditional helicopters, fixed -wing aircraft, ships, submarines, rotoves, drones and much more.
Chris Anderson, Mexican Jordi Muñoz and Jason Short began to develop it in 2007although the functional version was not available until 2009.
According to account 404Mediathe first version is based on a Lego Mindstorms set, but adapted for the popular Arduino plates, and from there it developed.
ArduPilot It connects to a drone, where a map is loaded. Through the GPS you can indicate a route to fly through it, and land. Russia blocks the GPS because it has its own system, Glonass, but with support software such as Arduflight, pilots can mark routes based on the compass, and guide the drones, with the help of the camera they carry.
Surely Ukraine’s intelligence services have trusted Ardupilot Because it has been in development for almost 20 years, so the code is very reliableand there is a lot of documentation to customize it.
This attack by Ukrainian drones to Russian bombers shows that, with important things, from defending a country to travel to the moon or control the airports, airports, In the end it is always used to open and free source. Either Ardupilot, Linux, or other free software.
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Tags: open source, artificial, viral intelligence, curiosities, linux, drones