ModalAI

ModalAI was founded in San Diego in 2018 by former Qualcomm Technologies employees. The company develops autopilot and perception computers for drones and robots, together with the open VOXL SDK software for autonomy functions such as obstacle avoidance and navigation without GPS.

Its VOXL 2 is a 16-gram single-board autopilot based on the Qualcomm Flight RB5 5G platform, combining a PX4 flight controller with an AI processor. The Defense Innovation Unit partially funded its development as part of Blue UAS Framework 2.0.

VOXL products have served as the core autopilot for two generations of the Blue UAS Framework. About four months after the company was founded, the US Army selected VOXL for small unmanned aircraft, and hundreds of VOXL-powered drones were used in DARPA’s OFFSET programme in 2021.