Software Maneuverability: Drones That Adapt in Software
What Software Maneuverability Means
Software maneuverability is the ability to change what a drone can do, as fast as the threat changes, through software.
Every ModalAI drone carries a high-performance computer on board, so its capabilities are not frozen the day it leaves the factory. New AI models, new sensors, new autonomy behaviors and new countermeasures can be deployed as software, to aircraft that are already fielded.
Why It Matters Now
On today's battlefield, electronic warfare and countermeasures evolve in weeks. The side that updates fastest wins. A fleet that can only change by buying new hardware falls a procurement cycle behind every time the threat moves; a fleet that can change in software keeps pace.
It also protects the investment. Aircraft bought today stay relevant as missions change, which lowers lifecycle cost and pairs directly with an open, modular architecture. Hardware ships once. Capability ships continuously.
What It Takes
Software maneuverability is not a slogan a vendor can add to a datasheet. Three things decide whether a drone has it:
| Requirement | Why it matters | How ModalAI delivers it |
|---|---|---|
| Compute headroom | A new capability needs somewhere to run. | VOXL 2 carries the Qualcomm QRB5165 with 15 TOPS of on-board AI in 16 g, and runs five neural networks concurrently. VOXL 2 Mini puts the same stack on an 11 g board. |
| Openness | If only the vendor can change the software, the customer waits on the vendor's roadmap. | The entire VOXL SDK is available in source code form at code.modalai.com, so customers and third parties can maneuver in software themselves. |
| One software line | An update only reaches the fleet if every aircraft runs the same stack. | One VOXL SDK runs across the product line, from development drones to Blue UAS aircraft. |
A Track Record, Not a Promise
VOXL SDK 1.1.2 reached every VOXL product, including the original Blue UAS Framework 1.0 VOXL line already in the field. Through a software update alone, those boards gained:
- Hardware-accelerated H.265 and H.264 video compression, with two streams at different resolutions at once: one for live RTSP, one HD stream recorded to disk.
- Always-on RTSP video and MAVLink camera protocol support, so live video appears in QGroundControl with no configuration.
- Streamlined configuration through the SDK install script.
None of that hardware changed. What the aircraft could do did.
And It Has Not Stopped
Every few months a new VOXL SDK release adds capability to the VOXL 2 and VOXL 2 Mini boards customers already own. Nothing in the hardware changes; what the aircraft can do does.
| Release | Date | What boards already in the field gained |
|---|---|---|
| SDK 1.1 | Q1 2024 | H.265 video and always-on RTSP, released for every VOXL product |
| SDK 1.2 | Apr 2024 | VIO waypoint missions without GPS |
| SDK 1.3 | Oct 2024 | VOXL Flight Controller with backtrack; FLIR Boson thermal camera support |
| SDK 1.4 | Jan 2025 | GPU feature tracking for VIO; dynamic bitrate and zoom on video |
| SDK 1.5 | Jun 2025 | Multicopter autotune; missions with return-to-launch and land waypoints |
| SDK 1.6 | Jun 2026 | On-board object tracking; camera zoom from an RC switch |
The full history, package by package, is in the VOXL SDK release notes.
Where to Start
| Product | What it is |
|---|---|
| VOXL 2 | 16 g Blue UAS Framework autopilot and AI computer, PX4 or ArduPilot on the sensors DSP |
| VOXL 2 Mini | The same stack at 11 g and 42 mm square, for the smallest airframes |
| Starling 2 Max | GPS-denied development drone on VOXL 2 |
| 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 open documentation |
Questions about adapting a fleet? Talk to our team, or ask our engineers on the developer forum.