1. Executive Summary
Another Quiver was assembled, configured, and tested. The US meetup at Thomas’s ranch in Texas turned the attachments from a specification into working hardware. Of four attachments planned, three were built and two came through fully successful, an actuated payload latch driven by PWM from the flight controller and a multispectral camera that was ground tested, flown, and published from the Arrow account. The builds validated the attachment power architecture, high voltage out with payload side regulation, keeping payloads off mission critical rails. The month closed with the Houston build back in the air. Obstacle avoidance ground commissioning finished and was cleared for flight by Zeynep. Twelve flights across three field days opened the avoidance flight validation campaign, with the first three flight cards flown and zero sensor dropouts across the campaign logs, closing the long standing in flight lidar dropout question.
The GPS mystery carried since June finally broke open. A new build acquired zero satellites with its Ethernet switches installed, and a bench session on the Houston build with the switches removed restored the M9N to full health, 22 to 24 satellites at HDOP 0.6. The interference picture then sharpened when an identically specified build without the problem pointed at transmission emissions rather than component presence. As a result, the team approved an oscilloscope to characterize the emissions directly, queued shielding for current builds, and will separate the GPS from the switches in future revisions. Standoffs are the only mitigation applied so far, and the campaign flights flew with the switches removed and recorded no velocity glitches.
On governance, the July report was published on August 6, and the July retroactive distribution plus a batch of documented expense reimbursements executed on chain August 31 in a single transaction, with the ledger reconciled against the transfers to the cent. Remote ID aircraft level testing completed in August, including the omnidirectional broadcast test, clearing the last technical gate before the FAA Declaration of Compliance filing, and the FAA workstream moves under Javelina Propeller Laboratory going forward. The phased project proposal converged slower than planned during August and publishes separately in early September after team review.
2. Project Progress
Team Formation
The core team structure carried over from July.
| Member | Role |
|---|---|
| errrks.eth | Project Lead |
| Julius | Core Contributor |
| Zeynep | Core Contributor |
| alperenag | Core Contributor |
| Dow Fisher KBM | Core Contributor |
| 21stCenturyAlex | Core Contributor |
Progress Summary:
The US meetup build week: The week of August 10 at Thomas’s ranch was the project’s first group build. Four attachments were planned and three were built. The actuated payload latch V1 works, a servo latch assembly driven by PWM from the flight controller, with the attachment interface pins reconfigured from GPIO to PWM and the 12 V line regulated to 6 V on the payload side, in a housing designed by Alperen. It was tested with real payloads, and V2 direction is set, a printed assembly with self sourced parts, sized up. The multispectral/NIR camera V1 also works, with clean power, native PWM triggering, and an Alperen mount. It was ground tested, then flown at the ranch on a Quiver airframe, and the results went out from the Arrow account. The Starlink Mini attachment was built and networked from the high voltage line through a regulator, but opening a camera stream drops the link permanently, with power delivery the lead suspect. Thomas retests with a different regulator. The granular dispenser, bench tested working before the meetup, went untouched and gets its field test separately. Two architecture conclusions came home from the week. High voltage out with payload side regulation is the attachment power model, since it worked for everything built and keeps payloads off rails the aircraft depends on. And the mechanical attachment interface needs a redesign, because removing bulky attachments in the field is finger pinching and sticky. That redesign is now a stated priority.
Obstacle avoidance (QGB-02): The ground campaign that began July 31 completed in early August under Zeynep’s procedure, and she cleared the aircraft for the flight portion on the August 20 call. The flight validation campaign opened August 25 with twelve flights across three field days against structured flight cards, one sensor at a time. The first three flight card results are under review with Zeynep, pending resolution and parameter change recommendations. Two findings already stand out of the data. The in flight lidar dropout question carried from the earliest Texas testing closed with zero sensor dropouts across the campaign logs, and the phantom radar anomaly carried from the ground sessions was attributed to zero range object frames the forward radar emits while airborne, with a parameter mitigation among the recommendations under review. The remaining card is the avoidance enabled flight itself, flown once the review resolves, which is the closing gate for QGB-02. The campaign logs upload to the flight tracking platform in September.
GPS2 root cause narrowed (open item): August produced the strongest evidence yet on the GPS problem carried since June. A new build’s M9N acquired zero satellites with its Ethernet switches installed, where the same receiver had been healthy before. A bench session on the Houston build with the switches removed restored its M9N to 22 to 24 satellites at HDOP 0.6, and the late August campaign flights, flown with the switches removed, recorded no velocity glitches. The August 27 call then complicated the simple story productively. An identically specified build configured by Julius shows no GPS degradation with everything enabled, so the hypothesis shifted from switch presence to transmission emissions, with configuration and part sourcing differences under comparison. Standoff mounting improved acquisition but did not fully resolve it, and it remains the only mitigation applied to date. Shielding is queued but has not been built or tested yet. The team approved an oscilloscope purchase to characterize the emissions directly rather than keep inferring from satellite counts, and future revisions will separate the M9N from the network switches. Dual GPS restoration waits on a clean validation flight after the mitigations.
Second build networked: A new build received the Raspberry Pi and Ethernet switch stack and was networked at the ranch, with the SIYI camera running Ethernet direct to the PCB and offloading the HM30 link. This build is where the zero satellite discovery was made, so it doubles as the GPS investigation testbed.
Regulatory: The Remote ID aircraft level test campaign completed in August, closing with the omnidirectional broadcast test, a full circle in 9 degree increments with packet logging. That clears the last technical gate before the FAA Declaration of Compliance filing. The ICAO manufacturing serial number prefix was received, clearing one of the filing’s evidence requirements. The FAA workstream, filing, registration, and follow ups, continues under Javelina Propeller Laboratory going forward, so it exits the Quiver roadmap with this report, with Quiver keeping only the aircraft side tasks, entering the Remote ID identity once registration numbers arrive and documenting the compliance boundary for attachment changes on an aircraft under 55 lb.
Dock, Longshot, and platform: Quiver dock prototyping started under Javelina Propeller Laboratory, a sheet metal V0 with troughs that align the landing legs, gated on whether RTK can reliably land the aircraft into them. Charging flow is acknowledged as the hard part and folds into the Longshot battery discussion, whose first pack build is in progress. The flight tracking platform relaunched as flights.arrowair.com, showing hours per aircraft.
Governance and community: The July progress report was published to the DAO forum on August 6. The July retroactive distribution decided alongside it executed on chain August 31, in the same batch transaction as a set of documented expense reimbursements (see budget section), and the ledger reconciles against the confirmed transfers to the cent. The funding request was reframed during August from a monthly ask into a phased project proposal, the format change requested on the August 4 call, and converged slower than planned, with the team’s own August 21 publish target slipping. The proposal is in final draft, goes through team review first, and publishes to the forum in early September, covering the July and August commitment grants retroactively alongside the three month roadmap.
3. Documentation:
Written this month, pending repo publication:
- **Obstacle avoidance campaign **, the standing session record with decisions and conflict log, per run records in the procedure’s format, ground findings write ups for Zeynep’s review, and a gap analysis against the execution procedure and roadmap.
- Configuration guide additions, the August bench session record (switch removal result, flight card exports, Remote ID verification) and OA flight preparation sections, extending the flight record kept since first flights.
- M9N interference note, capturing the switch removal baseline and the evidence trail for the emissions hypothesis.
- Flight card parameter sets, versioned and hash registered per session, with calibration lines stripped after a mid campaign lesson about card loads reverting field calibrations.
The First Flight Checklist, Handbook recalibration section, failure report form, and the configuration guide itself remain local, queued behind a repos sync that is now a named September goal in the phased proposal, alongside publishing the patched baseline parameter files whose safety fixes exist only in the local working copy.
4. August Goals:
The July report listed eighteen goals for August. The meetup and the OA campaign were the month’s center of gravity. Status below.
| # | Goal | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | GPS2 relocated mounting, interference sweep, restore dual GPS |  Root cause narrowed instead, Ethernet switch emissions, bench confirmed by removal. Standoffs helped, oscilloscope approved, sweep and dual GPS restore carry to September |
| 2 | Complete OA ground commissioning, lidar dropout verdict, first avoidance enabled flight | Ground complete and cleared, dropout question closed (zero dropouts), twelve campaign flights flown with the first three cards under review by Zeynep, avoidance enabled flight gates on her recommendations |
| 3 | Gimbal return path and QGC video stream |  No movement, carried to September |
| 4 | Publish checklist, Handbook section, failure form (repo sync) | Not done, folded into the September repository sync goal |
| 5 | First time setup review and QGB-01 payout reconciliation | Carried, the August resolution target was missed |
| 6 | Post the Attachment Developer Guide bounty | Scope document with Thomas for review, bounty posting carried to October |
| 7 | QuiverHub Raspberry Pi integration | No movement, carried to October |
| 8 | Decide attachment interface replacement and order quantity | Escalated rather than decided, the meetup added a mechanical redesign priority, decision in October |
| 9 | Decide dispenser path | Bench tested before the meetup, untouched at it, field test pending |
| 10 | Start in house latch and multispectral camera designs |  V1s built and tested at the meetup, camera flown and published |
| 11 | Produce the meetup attachment build plan and order parts | Executed, the meetup delivered |
| 12 | Run the Remote ID test campaign, assemble the FAA evidence package | Complete, including the omnidirectional broadcast test — the filing proceeds under Javelina |
| 13 | Register the aircraft, enter the Remote ID identity | Awaiting registration numbers from the FAA workstream |
| 14 | Distribute the July retroactive grants | Executed on chain August 31 |
| 15 | Publish the phased project proposal |  Slipped past the team’s August 21 target. In final draft, publishing in early September after team review |
| 16 | Product refinement scope and owner | Carried to November |
| 17 | File the marketing discovery deliverable, next sales page step | In review, filing is a September goal |
| 18 | Determine California dev-kit uses | Carried to November |
Four goals completed, four advanced, and the rest carried with owners and phase slots in the upcoming proposal.
5. Goals for Next Month:
The September goals below carry over from the flight campaign and the documentation backlog. Owners, funding, and the full three month roadmap are scoped in the phased project proposal, publishing to the forum in early September after team review.
- Resolve the flight card review with Zeynep, apply her parameter recommendations, and fly the first avoidance enabled flight, closing QGB-02, with the campaign logs uploaded to the flight tracking platform.
- Close the GPS interference investigation with the oscilloscope, the motors on throttle sweep, and shielding, and restore dual GPS after a clean validation flight.
- Land the repository sync publishing the documentation backlog, including the patched baseline parameter files carrying the June safety fixes.
- Run formal heat testing, complete the battery failsafe source design review, and adopt the SSR auto engage script into the baseline.
- File the marketing discovery deliverable and distribute the August retroactive grants.
- Publish the phased project proposal covering September through November.
6. Budget & Resource Allocation:
Team Members Compensation
The core team continued on commitment grants in August under the grants & bounties model. July and August commitment grants are requested retroactively in the upcoming phased project proposal.
August 2026 - Total Budget: $8,760 USDC + 25,000 $ARROW
| Category | Budget |
|---|---|
| Commitment Grants | $8,760 USDC (requested retroactively in the upcoming phased proposal) |
| Flight Test Campaign | 10,000 $ARROW (carried from April) |
| Retroactive Grants | 15,000 $ARROW |
Disbursement status: The July retroactive distribution (6,000 $ARROW across six contributors) and the August expense reimbursements ($1,480.82 USDC) executed on chain August 31 in a single batch transaction (
0x4459fdc529b37545b4ff854d3f017866bb66e1231d6beef13e006d2ddfabe948), with every transfer confirmed against the ledger line for line. After the batch, the multisig holds $18,786.83 USDC and 34,850 $ARROW, matching the project ledger to the cent.
Commitment Grants — $8,760 USDC
| Contributor | Grant (USDC) |
|---|---|
| Erick | $3,000 |
| Julius | $1,280 |
| Zeynep | $1,280 |
| Alperen | $1,280 |
| KBM | $960 |
| Alex | $960 |
Expense Reimbursements — $1,480.82 USDC (paid August 31)
Documented project expenses accumulated across the Houston build, the attachment building for the meetup, and the meetup flight were reimbursed from QGB-FLEX on August 31, under the bucket’s standing discretionary purpose and following the precedent of the prior equipment reimbursement. The expenses are itemized line by line in the compensation spreadsheet from ID 0085, and the payment is recorded in the project ledger against the same batch transaction as the retro distribution. This is an August item paid with funds already on the multisig, independent of any pending funding request.
Grants & Bounties
Technical milestone bounties continue to draw from the March USDC reserve ($26,240 plus the $726.94 surplus folded into QGB-FLEX in July). $8,180.11 has been paid to date, including the August reimbursements above. After the month’s payments, available bounty funds stand at $18,786.83, which matches the full USDC balance of the Safe. Several allocations in this table have sat idle for months, and their disposition is reviewed in the upcoming phased proposal. The statuses below are the state of the books as of August 31.
| ID | Name | Reward | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| QGB-01 | Documentation Wrap Up | $10,000 | In Progress — checklist approved, Handbook section drafted, first time setup payout still under review, Attachment Developer Guide scoped with Thomas reviewing |
| QGB-02 | Obstacle Avoidance System | $4,000 | In Progress — ground commissioning complete, flight campaign opened August 25 with the first three cards under review by Zeynep, the avoidance enabled flight is the closing gate |
| QGB-03 | Endurance Metrics Study | $600 | In Progress — the campaign log corpus now supports it, completion targeted for October |
| QGB-04 | Wind Limit Study | $3,000 | Open — still stalled, disposition reviewed in the upcoming phased proposal |
| QGB-05 | Attachment Development | $3,000 | In Progress — latch V1 and camera V1 built and tested at the meetup, dispenser field test pending, funds the V2 work |
| QGB-05a | V1 Actuated Payload Latch | $500 |  Dropped in July — built in house at the meetup, funds returned to QGB-05 |
| QGB-06 | Transport Case | $1,000 | Paid April 20 |
| QGB-FLEX | Open Bounty Bucket | $5,366.94 | In Progress — $3,210.32 paid (including the August reimbursements), $375 assigned (Marketing Discovery), $1,781.62 unassigned |
| QGB-FLEX | Multispectral Camera Payload | $500 | Dropped in July — built in house at the meetup and flown, funds returned to QGB-FLEX |
| QGB-FLEX | Marketing & Sales Page Discovery | $375 | In review before filing |
| QGB-FLEX | QuiverHub V1 Completion & Release | $1,080 USDC + 600 $ARROW | Paid — Alex, all M1–M3 milestones closed in April |
QGB-01 Breakdown
| Item | Allocation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Dev-Kit Information Notes | $775 USDC | Paid |
| Liquidity Pool Seeding | $994.79 USDC | Paid |
| Manufacturing Guide — Alperen | $1,000 USDC | Paid June 26 |
| Manufacturing Guide — Erick | $700 USDC | Paid June 26 |
| Manufacturing Guide — First time Setup (rolled forward) | $300 USDC | Payout under review, carried past the August target |
| Engineering Report — Erick | $500 USDC | Paid June 26 |
| Platform Engineering Report (reserved) | $500 USDC | Open — November deliverable |
| Pilot’s Handbook | $1,000 USDC | Merged — payment pending field driven updates, accumulating from the flight campaign |
| Developer SDK | Unpriced | Quick start merged — pending field updates and M4 & M5 (Alex) |
| Maintenance Guide | Unpriced | Merged — payment pending field driven updates |
| Attachment Developer Guide | $750 USDC | Scoped — going to bounty posting, Thomas reviewing |
| Unassigned Funds | $3,480.21 USDC | After priced items, disposition reviewed in the upcoming phased proposal |
Retroactive Grants — 15,000 $ARROW
The July distribution, 6,000 $ARROW across six contributors as published in the July report with 9,000 of the allocation held, executed on chain August 31. Held retro reserves now stand at 24,850 $ARROW, which covers the August allocation in full.
August retroactive grants recognize contributions across the meetup build week, the flight validation campaign, and the platform and communications work around them. The distribution below draws from the held retro reserves.
| Contributor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Thomas | 1,500 |
| Alperen | 1,500 |
| Erick | 1,500 |
| Zeynep | 750 |
| Gavin | 500 |
| Ben (WhiteDadJokes) | 500 |
| KBM | 500 |
| Distributed | 6,750 |
| Held in reserve | 8,250 |
The remaining 8,250 of the August allocation stays held on the multisig with the prior months’ reserves. Once the distribution executes, held retro reserves stand at 18,100 $ARROW. No new $ARROW is requested.
Flight Test Campaign — 10,000 $ARROW
The pool approved in April stays held on the multisig, undistributed. The validated flight count grows from eleven to twenty three once the August campaign logs upload in September. Payment mechanics are finalized in September, ahead of any payment drawing from the pool.
Total:
July and August commitment grants ($17,520 USDC) are requested retroactively in the phased project proposal publishing in early September. The August 31 batch transaction paid the July retroactive distribution and the documented expense reimbursements from funds already on the multisig, and the ledger reconciles against the confirmed transfers to the cent. The Safe holds $18,786.83 USDC + 34,850 $ARROW, with the USDC balance equal to the bounty reserve and the $ARROW split across 24,850 of held retro reserves and the 10,000 flight test pool. The August retroactive distribution (6,750 $ARROW across seven contributors, 8,250 held) draws from the held reserves in early September.