Dave Sharpin, Former AeroVironment VP, Joins Company As U.S. GM

Auterion, provider of Auterion Enterprise PX4, an open-source-based, enterprise operating system for drones, has announced two key hires and the opening of a U.S. office to guide the company’s growth during a period of increased demand from the industry. David Sharpin, formerly vice president of Sales and Business Development for AeroVironment, and Marco Bill-Peter, current SVP Red Hat, have been announced as General Manager for Auterion U.S. and Auterion Board Member respectively. On the heels of the seed investment of $10 million, the growth, U.S. presence, and personnel milestones come at a time of increased scrutiny by the U.S. government of Asian manufactured commercial drones.

Today the Defense Department’s drones run largely on custom software that is created and maintained by a number of military contractors, but thanks to open source software development model, this is starting to change. Rapid advancements of PX4, the software that powers a drone, are pushing the Pentagon to rethink how it operates and upgrades its unmanned aerial systems, and in early May, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) awarded a $2 million project to Auterion to enhance PX4 as part of the new Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR), Group 1 effort.

“In the current geopolitical situation, we are seeing a surge in demand for trusted software,” said Auterion U.S. GM David Sharpin. “The open source nature of Auterion’s secure Enterprise platform not only outpaces proprietary systems in innovation speed and new capabilities but also ensures trust from authorities and end-users in the US”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently issued an alert and warning against the use of drones made by Chinese manufacturers. On May 20, CNN reported Chinese-made drones may be sending sensitive flight data to their manufacturers in China, where it can be accessed by the government there.

Auterion’s enterprise open source operating system for drones offers a trusted software alternative. The platform is based on open standards and its open source code makes it auditable by its users and the authorities. This can help boost transparency outside the industry, which helps build confidence among the public and regulators. Auterion’s operating system is used today in both the commercial and government drone industry.

With further regulatory changes expected from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2019, the drone industry is set for another year of extraordinary growth. The FAA forecasts 3X growth by 2021, with an estimated 230,000 commercial drones hitting the skies in 2019 as regulations ease the burden for the industry to collect aerial data at scale.

“We are excited about the future that open source will unlock in both the private and public government sector for commercial drones,” said Lorenz Meier, Co-founder of Auterion and creator of PX4, Pixhawk, MAVLink, and QGC (the most widely adopted permissively licensed open source projects in the drone industry). “With this stellar team in place, our auditable software, backed by the U.S. government, will guide and scale the future of drones in the U.S.”

(Image provided with Auterion news release)

FMI: www.auterion.com