Hi, I'm Julian Oes.

Please post questions in public forums like PX4 Discuss unless you’re after paid help, as I can’t scale 1-on-1 support.

If I haven’t responded, I probably don’t know the answer, or I’m busy. If I responded earlier trying to help, feel free to bump a thread after a few days.

If something is important and urgent to you, book a call so we can check my availability for paid work.

Yes, I use Claude Code extensively. I check and test whatever is critical, based on my own experience with the code and the hardware. Knowing which parts need that scrutiny is part of what you’re paying for.

Both. I used to steer people towards advice, guidance and training, mostly so I wouldn’t end up the bottleneck on someone else’s roadmap. That has changed recently. With LLM tooling, the coding/implementation is no longer the bottleneck and I have more capacity. Send stuff my way and I’ll give it a good try.

I charge 250 USD/h for proprietary software and 175 USD/h for open source software which is contributed back to upstream.

In my experience, estimating the time and effort required for a project is difficult, however, it has become easier with the help of LLMs. I find using an hourly rate fair, but if you prefer to work within a fixed budget, I can accommodate that, as long as the project is small or well-scoped.

We can keep costs manageable by working in small, defined increments and setting hourly limits per project or on a weekly / monthly basis. This approach ensures transparency and avoids budget surprises.

I live in New Zealand, so that’s New Zealand time. I tend to take calls in the early morning to accommodate for timezone differences.

Possibly. It depends on the location, timing, and duration of the engagement. Any travel-related expenses will need to be covered by the client.

Sure, give me access and a problem and I’ll work on it directly, whether that’s MAVLink plumbing, MAVSDK, a driver, a build system or a bug that only happens on the vehicle.

I might be able to help when it comes to ArduPilot issues in relation to MAVLink and/or MAVSDK. For other aspects of ArduPilot, I’m likely not the best person to help.

Currently, I don’t offer retainers, as I want to avoid letting clients down when I’m unavailable or too busy.

My availability varies depending on the nature of the project and my current commitments. Let’s discuss your needs, and we can figure out when I can accommodate your request.

Possibly, if you have a compelling reason. However, I recommend posting in public forums where I often provide free help.

If something I did helped you, you’re welcome to leave me a tip.

I offer a half-price rate of 125 USD/h for students, non-profit organizations, and clients based in countries with lower purchasing power. You can book a call at the reduced rate via Savvycal.

The rate stays the same whether it’s a one hour call or several weeks of work. What does change the price is where the code ends up: work contributed back upstream is billed at the open source rate, which is the closest thing to a volume discount I have.

I’m generally open to signing NDAs as long as they are reasonable in scope and time-bound.

Yes, here are my terms and conditions.

I invoice at the end of each month, with payments due within 14 days via credit card, wire transfer, or Wise.

For one-off calls, you can pay upfront when scheduling a call via Savvycal.

No, I generally avoid defense work. However, if the project involves dual-use technology, I may still offer assistance, though it’s not my primary focus.

If you didn’t find our paid call helpful, just let me know, and I’ll gladly refund your payment, no questions asked.