EU-origin open aerial payload platform

The drone flies.
The payload thinks.
The data is safe.

An open-architecture, field-repairable platform with a defined payload interface standard. Not a consumer drone — infrastructure you own completely. Every design file, every component choice, every decision: publicly documented.

v2.4.6 — active development CERN OHL-S v2 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Designed in Telč, Czech Republic
The problem

The gap nobody filled

Platform What it is What's wrong
DJI Extraordinary hardware Closed software. Data pipeline owned by manufacturer. Chinese supply chain.
Academic Open research platforms €10,000–€50,000. Requires institutional procurement. Not field-repairable.
Racing FPV Fast and cheap Zero payload concept. Built to crash, not to carry.
Commercial enterprise Feature-rich Closed ecosystems. NDA-gated interfaces. €800 to enter the developer programme.
libdrone €200–€700 per frame · €16 in filament Open source. Field-repairable. EU-origin. Payload interface: open standard.
Platform family

Five variants. One interface standard.

Core
4-inch · 4S · educational

Learn by building. Schools, workshops, curriculum integration.

Pro
6-inch · 6S · research

Researchers, agencies, data collection. In build.

Bandit
4-inch · 4S · awareness

What paintball is to Navy Seals. Understand the threat by flying one.

Ghost
12-inch · 4S · 45 min

Sensitive environments. Acoustically hard to detect. Long endurance.

Wing
Fixed-wing · survey

Wildlife, forestry, long-range survey. ArduPilot.

Payload system

The drone is the carrier. The sensor is the point.

Sensor swap in 60 seconds. No rewiring. No tools. One payload = demo. Two = coincidence. Three = a standard anyone can build to.

01

Air quality

PM2.5, CO₂, NOx, VOC, RH. GPS-tagged, real-time OSD overlay. Neighbourhood-scale environmental mapping in one flight.

02

Thermal + optical

FLIR Lepton 3.5 thermal live to goggles. Mapping camera trigger via FC GPIO. Two use cases, one payload module.

03

Open SDK

Dual GX12-7 standard. Build anything using the open hardware and software API. No NDA. No developer programme fee.

Why now

An 18–24 month window

Supply chain DJI effectively radioactive for EU and NATO-adjacent buyers.
Proof of concept Ukraine demonstrating daily value of modular, repairable small UAS.
Policy EU drone sovereignty becoming active legislative priority.
Market No credible open, documented, EU-origin payload platform exists yet.
If this resonates with you,
you know where to find us.
jakub@libdrone.eu · CERN OHL-S v2 · CC BY-SA 4.0
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