At DJI’s AirWorks conference, Microsoft has announced the public preview of the Windows SDK, which allows applications to be written for Windows 10 PCs that control DJI drones.

The SDK will also allow the Windows developer community to integrate and control third-party payloads like multispectral sensors, robotic components like custom actuators, and more, exponentially increasing the ways drones can be used in the enterprise.

Last May at its Build developer conference, the software company announced a partnership with Shenzhen-headquartered DJI to bring advanced AI and machine learning capabilities to DJI drones, thus helping businesses harness the power of commercial drone technology and edge cloud computing.

With this SDK, there are now three methods to enable Azure AI services to interact with drone imagery and video in real-time: Drone imagery can be sent directly to Azure for processing by an AI workload; Drone imagery can be processed on Windows running Azure IoT Edge with an AI workload; and Drone imagery can be processed directly onboard drones running Azure IoT Edge with an AI workload.

Talking about the security of data, Azure IoT Edge includes an important subsystem, called the security manager, which acts as a core for protecting the IoT Edge device and all its components by abstracting the secure silicon hardware. It is the focal point for security hardening and provides IoT device manufacturers the opportunity to harden their devices based on their choice of hardware secure modules (HSM), the company said.

Moreover, the Azure certified for IoT program only certifies third-party Azure IoT Edge hardware that meets the company’s security requirements.