About ModalAI
Who We Are
ModalAI accelerates autonomy for smaller, smarter and safer drones and robots. We design and build SWaP-optimized autopilots that put an AI companion computer and a flight controller on one board, the software that makes them fly without GPS, and complete aircraft that ship ready to fly. Everything is designed and assembled in the USA, NDAA '20 Section 848 compliant, and open for developers to extend.
Based in San Diego, California, ModalAI spun out of Qualcomm® in 2018. The founding team led Qualcomm's drone and robotics research, including Snapdragon Flight, the board that later flew on NASA JPL's Ingenuity helicopter, and Qualcomm Flight Pro. Co-founder and CEO Chad Sweet was lead engineer for Qualcomm's robotics R&D effort, which created the drone and robotic product lines for Qualcomm's chipset division.
What We Build
| Product | What it is |
|---|---|
| VOXL 2 | 16 g Blue UAS Framework autopilot: Qualcomm QRB5165, 15 TOPS of on-board AI, PX4 or ArduPilot on the sensors DSP |
| VOXL 2 Mini | The same stack at 11 g and 42 mm square, for the smallest airframes and ground robots |
| Starling 2 Max | GPS-denied development drone on VOXL 2 with 500 g of payload capacity |
| Stinger Vision FPV | Ready-to-fly FPV aircraft on VOXL 2 Mini, on the Blue UAS Cleared Select list |
| VOXL SDK | Visual inertial odometry, SLAM, obstacle avoidance and object detection, with ROS, PX4 and MAVSDK support and open documentation |
Around the boards sits an ecosystem of image sensors, ESCs, radios and cellular add-ons, and a partner network of OEMs building on VOXL. See the VOXL platform for the full line-up.
By the Numbers
- 15+ years of experience in the U.S. robotics and drone industry
- Over $35 million in contracts with the Department of Defense to advance next-generation Blue UAS Framework autopilots
- 1000+ partners enabled with VOXL
- Over 1,000 active users on the ModalAI developer network
- Over 1,000 design wins across commercial and government customers worldwide
Company Timeline
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2015 | At Qualcomm, the future ModalAI founders ship Snapdragon Flight, the first board to put a flight controller and a Linux companion computer together. It evolves into Qualcomm Flight Pro. |
| 2018 | ModalAI, Inc. is founded in San Diego and develops the first private 4G/LTE network for sUAS for the DoD's Defense Innovation Unit. |
| 2019 | First product ships: the VOXL companion computer, evolved from Qualcomm Flight Pro. ModalAI joins the Dronecode Foundation. |
| 2020 | VOXL Flight, the first single-board Blue UAS Framework autopilot with a flight controller and companion computer, is released. |
| 2021 | NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, powered by Snapdragon Flight, makes the first powered flight on another planet. ModalAI and Qualcomm launch the Qualcomm Flight RB5 5G Platform, the first 5G and AI-enabled drone platform. |
| 2022 | VOXL 2, the second-generation Blue UAS Framework autopilot on the Qualcomm QRB5165, launches at 16 g. |
| 2023 | VOXL 2 Mini, an 11 g autopilot for sub-250 g drones, and the Starling development drone launch. |
| 2024 | Starling 2 and Starling 2 Max, NDAA-compliant GPS-denied development drones, are announced. |
| 2025 | Seeker Vision FPV and Stinger Vision FPV join the Blue UAS Select list. ModalAI's VRX and VTX, power modules, modems and image sensors are added to the Blue UAS Framework. |
| 2026 | Seeker Vision FPV is selected for the Drone Dominance Gauntlets 1 and 2. |
Work With Us
We are hiring, our engineers answer questions on the developer forum, and sales can be reached through the contact page.