Ascend Engineering Joins Dronecode Foundation as a Silver Member, Brings FlightTesting Expertise to PX4 Ecosystem

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Information:

Ascend Engineering

Michael Pehel 

1-(516)-288-6177 

mjnassociatesllc@gmail.com

Date: February 20, 2025

Chicago , Illinois, February 20, 2025 - Ascend Engineering, a leading provider of custom drone integration services, today announced that it has joined the Dronecode Foundation as a Silver member. This strategic membership reinforces Ascend’s commitment to the open source drone community while bringing its specialized expertise to the PX4 ecosystem.

As a company that works hand-in-hand with open technologies every day, Ascend Engineering recognizes that a strong open source ecosystem is vital for innovation in the drone industry. The company’s expertise in custom software development,sensor and camera integration, networking development, and companion computer integration has all been shaped by years of working with PX4 and related technologies. The company will contribute its flight testing operations for PX4 and QGroundControl, working directly with the project maintainer teams to enhance upcoming stable releases.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Ascend Engineering to the Dronecode Foundation. Their commitment to real-world flight testing will strengthen the PX4 open ecosystem, ensuring that new features are thoroughly validated before deployment,” said Ramón Roche, General Manager at the Dronecode Foundation. “Their expertise in custom drone integration services will continue to be invaluable to the commercial ecosystem of adopters as our projects continue to grow.”

"Our decision to join Dronecode reflects our deep commitment to strengthening the open source drone ecosystem," said Andrew Wilkins, co-founder of Ascend Engineering. "By contributing our flight testing capabilities, we can help ensure that updates to PX4 and QGroundControl are thoroughly validated in real-world conditions. This not only benefits our clients but strengthens the entire community by improving the reliability and performance of these critical codebases.

The addition of Ascend Engineering to the Dronecode Foundation marks another milestone in the organization’s mission to advance open source drone technologies through collaborative development and real-world testing.

About Ascend Engineering

Ascend Engineering is a Chicago-based software and engineering firm specializing in drone technology. As a group of UAV software engineering consultants, Ascend Engineering helps companies build and integrate UAV projects into their workflows. With expertise in PX4, QGroundControl, MAVSDK, MAVLink, and ROS2, the company offers comprehensive services from autopilot development to backend integration. Founded by industry experts, the company is committed to advancing UAV technology and providing tailored solutions for businesses looking to leverage drones in their operations.

About the Dronecode Foundation

The Dronecode Foundation, hosted by The Linux Foundation, serves as a vendor-neutral hub for open source drone development. Home to critical projects including PX4, MAVLink, QGroundControl, and MAVSDK, the Foundation provides the fundamental building blocks that power many of today's commercial drone platforms. Through its commitment to open collaboration and industry standards, the Foundation accelerates innovation across the drone ecosystem, enabling companies and developers to build sophisticated drone solutions on a trusted open source foundation.