Who Owns Your Drone? The Evolution of Open-Source FPV & OpenDrone

A retrospective look at how open-source software built the global FPV drone community, the vulnerabilities of closed hardware ecosystems, and how the OpenDrone project is pioneering fully open-source hardware stacks.

FPV drones have historically run on the foundational software contributions of a handful of developers who wrote code and gave it away freely. The timeline of open-source flight control spans over a decade:

• 2009–2010 (MultiWii): Nintendo released the Wii MotionPlus featuring built-in gyroscopes. Developer AlexinParis wired it to an 8-bit Arduino and created MultiWii, making cheap quadcopter flight possible for the masses.
• 2012–2013 (Baseflight & Naze32): Timecop ported MultiWii to a faster STM32 chip, releasing the Naze32 which became the blueprint for modern flight controllers.
• 2014–2015 (Cleanflight & Betaflight): When Baseflight stopped accepting new boards, Dominic Clifton forked it into Cleanflight. Shortly after in 2015, Dutch developer Boris B forked Cleanflight to experiment with improved filtering algorithms, giving birth to Betaflight.

While software remained largely open, critical hardware components leaned toward proprietary locks and external vulnerabilities:

• The DJI Dominance & Digital Shift: In 2019, DJI introduced its digital FPV system, offering low-latency HD video. However, it marked the first time core performance relied on closed, proprietary technology that outsiders could not modify.
• Regulatory Pressures: The introduction of FAA Remote ID in 2019 and shifting global compliance highlighted that hobbyists were losing absolute control over their airspace infrastructure.
• Geopolitical and Military Pressures: The war in Ukraine redefined small quadcopters as dual-use military hardware. Consequently, export controls tightened, and in May 2024, BLHeli_32 abruptly shut down out of fear its firmware would end up in military drones, taking its provisioning servers offline. Fortunately, the open-source community had already embraced alternatives like the AM32 ESC firmware and ExpressLRS radio links.

While software like Betaflight, AM32, and ExpressLRS proved resilient, hardware reference designs remained locked behind closed corporate doors. Founded in Belgium, **Incite** launched the **OpenDrone** project to provide fully open-source FPV hardware licensed under the CERN Open Hardware Licence (CERN-OHL-S)—meaning users can build, modify, and sell designs as long as modifications are shared back with the community.

Launching open hardware requires complex supply chains, regulatory paperwork, and quality control. Batch 1 of the OpenFC Lite and OpenESC stacks ships from Belgium to the EU in early November 2026. All other custom items operate on a crowdfunding preorder model ending on **December 15, 2026**:

• Goal Reached: Production is triggered, and orders ship by March 31, 2027.
• Goal Missed: Backers can choose between a full refund or keeping their preorders active.

While initial production batches are manufactured in China due to cost barriers, OpenDrone’s long-term vision is to bootstrap hardware sales to gradually shift production back to local maker spaces and facilities in Europe and the US.