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GA

Embedded QA for an agricultural drone fleet — validating companion computer firmware across 30+ releases, pilot apps, OTA update pipelines, and safety features on HIL rigs.

102Weeks operated
7k+Hours of work
5Engineers

The brief

Provide embedded QA engineering capacity to General Aeronautics to validate their agricultural spray drone software stack — including companion computer firmware, mobile GCS applications, and cloud support platform — enabling safe, compliant, and scalable deployment of their K1i/K2i drone fleet for precision agriculture across India.

What we built

A full-stack quality assurance and partial development function for General Aeronautics' agricultural drone ecosystem. This encompasses:

  • Companion Computer (CC) software testing across 30+ versioned Docker releases (v3.x through v5.x) on HIL/SITL rigs validating mission execution, DB integrity, spray logic, and MAVLink security
  • GA Pilot & Krishak Android app testing through versions 2.0–4.9.2, covering operator workflows, Trimble GPS integration, Firebase remote config, and live cockpit telemetry
  • Firmware Update (FWU) pipeline validation including OTA Wi-Fi, Bluetooth bootloader, and the new FWU v3 architecture with compatibility matrices
  • Smart RTL safety feature deep-dive testing over 10+ weeks
  • GA Pegasus CRM platform testing with 10+ user roles, call center support, and media escalation flows
  • Production fleet support resolving 300+ Pegasus tickets covering drone crashes, SQLite corruption, VTDS faults, and UUID registration failures for the K1i/K2i fleet
  • Mobile app feature development (live cockpit display parameters, weather API, Firebase remote config, WorkManager log upload); and
  • Cloud FinOps discovery for Azure-to-GCP migration planning.
⊛ Live in production

The K1i and K2i production drone fleet (300+ vehicles) is actively operational in Indian agricultural fields, running validated CC software (v5.x), GA Pilot app (v4.9.x), bootloader v3.0.0, and the GA Pegasus support platform. Firmware update pipeline (FWU v3), Smart RTL, area sprayed tracking, and MAVLink signing are all live in production. Ongoing regression and field testing continues through the engagement end date.

How it was built, phase by phase.

8 workstreams across 102 weeks of operated delivery

  1. (001)TESTWeek 1 – Week 130 (ongoing throughout engagement)

    Companion Computer (CC) Software Testing

    Intensive testing of the companion computer (CC) software running in Docker containers on Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) setups, covering mission execution, database integrity, payload management.

    ✓ Validated CC software correctness for mission summary, payload data integrity, power cycle tracking.

    DockerHIL setupSITLGazeboQASEJIRA
  2. (002)TESTWeek 1 – Week 10 (Jan–Mar 2024)

    MAVLink Protocol & Signing Security

    Testing and validation of MAVLink communication protocol including the MAVLink signing feature for secure drone-to-GCS communication, delay issue identification, and regression testing with signing enabled/disabled.

    ✓ MAVLink signing feature validated for secure command authentication across all production drone variants

    HIL setupDockerSITLQASEJIRA
  3. (003)TESTWeek 1 – Week 130 (continuous)

    GA Pilot & Krishak Mobile Application Testing

    End-to-end functional, regression, and UI testing of the GA Pilot Android application and Krishak1i/Krishak2i mobile apps used by drone operators for field missions, including path marking, mission upload.

    ✓ Stable, field-ready mobile applications for drone operators managing agricultural spray missions, with validated firmware update flows.

    AndroidSITLQASEJIRAAppiumFirebase
  4. (004)TESTWeek 8 – Week 130 (recurring)

    Path Generation, Obstacle Avoidance & Area Sprayed Accuracy

    Testing of mission-critical spray path planning features including perimeter path generation, obstacle boundary exclusion, area sprayed calculation accuracy, polygon field boundary handling.

    ✓ Accurate area sprayed reporting and reliable path planning validated for regulatory compliance (DGCA documentation) and farmer billing accuracy

    SITLGazeboHIL setupGoogle MapsQASEJIRA
  5. (005)TESTWeek 12 – Week 130 (Feb 2024 – Dec 2025)

    Firmware Update (FWU) Pipeline Testing

    Comprehensive testing of the drone firmware update pipeline including bootloader versions (v2.6.x through v3.0.0), OTA Wi-Fi updates, Bluetooth bootloader.

    ✓ Reliable OTA firmware update pipeline validated for field deployment across the entire K1i/K2i production fleet

    DockerHIL setupTermiusWi-FiBluetoothAndroid app
  6. (006)TESTWeek 18 – Week 82 (May 2024 – Oct 2024)

    GA Pegasus CRM / Support Platform Testing

    Testing of the GA Pegasus web-based CRM and support platform covering multi-role ticket management (L3, SP, DP, VnV, FT, CRM agent/manager, service engineer), ticket lifecycle, media management.

    ✓ GA Pegasus CRM platform validated for production use covering full ticket lifecycle, call center operations, and cross-role media escalation

    JIRAWeb browserMobile browserQASERocketChat
  7. (007)STABILIZEWeek 18 – Week 130 (May 2024 – Dec 2025, ongoing)

    Production Fleet Support & Field Incident Resolution

    Ongoing triage and resolution of production drone issues via the Pegasus ticketing system, including crash log analysis, firmware reflashing, SQLite database corruption recovery.

    ✓ Continuous operational support keeping a 300+ vehicle K1i/K2i production fleet operational across Indian agricultural deployments

    Pegasus ticketingTermiusMAVFtpArduPilotSQLiteCC logs
  8. (008)TESTWeek 28 – Week 100 (Jul 2024 – Dec 2024, recurring through 2025)

    Smart RTL (Return-to-Launch) Feature Testing

    Extended deep-dive testing of the Smart RTL autonomous return feature covering path planning, resume functionality, edge cases, and regression testing across CC software releases.

    ✓ Smart RTL validated as a safety-critical feature ensuring drones autonomously return and resume spray missions after interruptions

    HIL setupSITLDockerQASEJIRA

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