Announcement: Parrot Drones SDK 8.5 release

Announcements
, ,
1

Synchronized with the 8.5 update of Freeflight8, Anafi UKR firmware and Skycontroller 8.5 firmware, we are pleased to announce the release of version 8.5 of the Parrot Drones SDK, containing the following items:

  • AirSDK
  • GroundSDK for iOS and Android
  • GroundSDK Tools for Linux
  • Olympe

The full documentation is available on the Parrot for Developers website .

Release Notes

Air SDK

Features

  • Implement Neural Network support for missions, including an on-drone inference daemon, a hardware-in-the-loop bridge, and corresponding Image Classifier and Object Detector mission samples
  • Implement Audio mission sample (C++ via libpdraw and Python) with corresponding documentation
  • Add airsdk-cli “adb-shell”, “missions-log”, wheel-builder, “load”/“unload”/“activate”/“deactivate” commands, and default mission selection

Improvements

  • Update, fix, and rework mission samples; add a C++ Mission UI sample based on libwebsockets alongside the existing Python one
  • Rework and extend the AirSDK unit test suite
  • Improve airsdk-cli packaging, list output, and mission secrets handling
  • Restructure documentation for clarity (naming, structure, navigation)

Bugfixes

  • Fix various warnings and API mismatches

Ground SDK

Features

  • Implement 5G pairing for cellular connectivity
  • Add Ethernet IP configuration setting for drone and remote control network interfaces
  • Implement stream sharing network interface parameter
  • Implement stream recording chapter insertion
  • Add Camera2 framerate 7.5 support
  • Add Geofence NONE and CEILING modes
  • Add Updater READY_TO_REBOOT state
  • Add RTH geofence violation reason
  • Add optional altitude to RemoteAntenna location
  • Implement Calibration peripheral
  • Implement Vehicle peripheral

Improvements

  • Add support for 16 KB memory page sizes
  • Replace Gson by kotlinx serialization
  • Replace Protobuf by Wire
  • Use multiplatform-settings library
  • Use okio internally

Bugfixes

  • Fix Dri peripheral availability while in backup link
  • Fix Gimbal position mode control

Ground SDK Tools

Features

  • PDrAW: Add metadata deletion support to the Jfif and Dng muxers
  • PDrAW: Add .m4a support to the record demuxer and muxer
  • libpdraw-vsink: Add a new coded vsink, with an OpenCV integration example
  • PDrAW: Add RtspStreamMuxerMux element for RTSP-over-mux
  • librtsp: Add stream ingest support to the RTSP server
  • PDrAW: Add a new MP4 remuxer
  • libvideo-metadata: Add CameraModel and battery voltage to photo/drone metadata
  • Add new video framerates (24_2, 25_2, 30_2) and 12.5MPX resolution
  • Add a priority field to coded frames
  • Add multiple CA certificate support for drone certificate verification, including the new Anafi UKR CA
  • Update OpenSSL to version 3.0.21

Bugfixes

  • PDrAW: Fix StreamDemuxer media re-creation on teardown, a SETUP/ready-to-play race, and multicast handling
  • PDrAW: Fix RecordDemuxer and RtspStreamMuxer seek timeout, lost disconnection reason, server error handling, and UDP proxy issues
  • libmux: Guard session callbacks with ref/unref and fix mux_destroy() blocking on a stuck thread
  • librtsp: Increase max message size and reset the keep-alive timer on send failure
  • libvideo-decode/libvideo-encode: Fix a SEGV on HW decode init failure and VideoToolbox surface renewal
  • libvideo-scale/libvideo-streaming: Fix a scaler-stop race that could hang the pipeline, a use-after-free on clear, and a timestamp overflow
  • Fix missing or incorrect EXIF, GPS, and XMP metadata tags
  • Drain the fdk-aac audio output queue before flush/stop
  • Fix BatteryStateChanged not being sent as an acknowledged event

API Changes to Note (potential partner impact)

  • Video streaming: the sender’s send_frame now returns a packet list and takes an mbuf_coded_video_frame
  • libpdraw-vsink: now a C++ API with a C wrapper
  • Video metadata: Java package name changed (Android impact)

Olympe

Features

  • Implement eSIM support

Improvements

  • Rework the Update class, mixin, and examples
  • Rework the Media section
  • Improve HTTP proxy creation and destruction
  • Reduce the nominal timeout for sending optional commands while connecting
  • Clean up Device class disconnection
  • Add vehicle documentation and improve Mission docstrings

Bugfixes

  • Fix synchronous retrieval of media events
  • Fix networking segfault when libpomp delivers both connected and disconnected events
  • Fix and harden arsdk message argument handling (positional/keyword, dict-type and arsdk-structured, single or multiple args)

Additional Tools & PC Firmwares

Updates

  • Logan-lite updated to version 1.24.2 (parrot-tools-logan-lite).

Best regards,

The Parrot Drones SDK team