Demonstrated behaviour, integration status and the work ahead. Use this reference alongside your aircraft and deployment requirements.
Evidence reviewed
ArduCopter integration demonstrated in software-in-the-loop simulation.
Recorded on 9 October 2026: one simulated ArduCopter 4.7.1 quadcopter, with six Node processes on a macOS development host and a test signing harness supplying commands. The scenario included three waypoint visits, two orbit intervals, two signed Holds, and a signed Abort followed by return-to-launch, landing and disarming. Fifteen independent outcome checks passed.
This was a software demonstration, not physical aircraft integration, a live payload demonstration or a full qualification campaign. Safety review findings remain open. Successful outcome checks do not establish field readiness, continuous assurance or safety qualification.
The recorded demonstration replays telemetry and software events over archival coastal imagery. Its onboard view is reconstructed; it does not show physical flight, live camera processing, AI perception or terrain-collision behaviour.
Aircraft records, mission execution and product-to-product connections have different validation requirements.
Fleet supports aircraft records and readiness workflows; recording an aircraft does not establish integration for mission execution. Node is intended for an onboard Linux companion computer, alongside the autopilot. The demonstration above used development-host processes.
Pterops is being developed around documented interfaces and modular components, enabling assessed integrations with customer aircraft, payloads and operational systems.
Open architecture does not mean universal aircraft compatibility or an entirely open-source platform. The licensing plan includes Apache-2.0 contracts, SDK bindings and simulator tooling; Node, Authority, Control and product applications are proprietary. Public source releases and technical documentation are not yet available. Contractual source access for audit is a separate arrangement.
Explore the component architectureAreas of investigation, separate from current product capabilities.
The demonstrated flight uses explicit command logic and autopilot control. It is not an AI-autonomy demonstration. AI mission assistance, perception, tracking and alternative navigation are research and roadmap capabilities. In the planned model, AI may propose actions or provide bounded inputs while Pterops enforces approved authority and constraints.
Coordinated multi-aircraft execution, formation keeping, cooperative collision avoidance and decentralised swarm autonomy are future ambitions. Autonomous formation flight and collision avoidance are not currently claimed; there are no verified Pterops demonstrations supporting these capabilities, including in simulation.