[aray]

I'm worried about Airware. Checking out their site, they list (prominently) among other advertised features "Free of ITAR restrictions". First of all, I'm not sure such a thing can be claimed (due to the nature of the decisions as to whether specific technology or scientific arts count as arms).

It also looks like none of their products are particularly innovative in this space. 3D robotics, Ardupilot, Micropilot, Openpilot, ZeroUAV, VeiYu Tech have dozens of different products in this space. http://diydrones.com does a pretty good job tracking all of those.

Compared to the big commercial players: CloudCap's Piccolo and Kestrel APs, I don't see the value add. Major consumers of APs (>100 units) tend to choose these because they're consistent and trusted. Building up clients trust in an AP is a very hard thing to gain (why should I risk my $250,000 experimental aircraft on your dinky little AP) and a very easy thing to lose.

I'm also curious how will AirWares OS and "Apps" will fit in the current airworthyness certification model, which has whether DO-178B compliance is on their roadmap. Maybe the answer is "that doesn't apply to us" just like ITAR? :)

Good luck to them, and good luck getting a CoA for anything with one of their products in it.