William Walsh, co-chair of the Aviation industry team, discusses drones and the need for training and safety testing in LinuxInsider. 

Microsoft has introduced an open source virtual reality toolkit for the training of autonomous drones. Part of Microsoft's Aerial Informatics and Robotics Platform, the beta software became available on GitHub last week.

Microsoft's open source simulator could be a welcome development at a time when drone regulators are struggling to catch up with the dramatic increase in commercial and recreational drone use.

"With so many new operators joining the ranks every day, the need for training and safety testing has never been greater," said Bill Walsh.

An added benefit of the Microsoft open source simulator is that it could warrant consideration of a revised regulatory requirement that all drone users complete simulator training, Walsh told LinuxInsider.

"That may only come about if we begin to experience multiple crash events that cause injury," he acknowledged, "but if the system proves effective at training drone operators as well as product developers, simulator training requirements could eventually help solve a significant problem facing current drone regulators: people who do not know what they are doing and are not taking the time to learn."

To read the article, click here.