The PX4 autopilot is an open-source system designed for affordable autonomous aircraft. Its cost-effectiveness and widespread availability make it suitable for hobbyists operating small and remotely piloted aircraft. Originating in 2009, this project is continually evolving, with ongoing development and utilization at the Computer Vision and Geometry Lab of ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology). It also receives support from the Autonomous Systems Lab and the Automatic Control Laboratory. Currently, numerous vendors are manufacturing PX4 autopilots and associated accessories.

Overview

PX4 supports the following features:

• Support for multiple vehicle types, including fixed-wing aircraft, multicopters, helicopters, rovers, boats and underwater vehicles^[1]
• Fully manual, partially assisted and fully autonomous flight modes^[2]
• Vehicle stabilization
• Waypoint navigation
• Integration with position, speed, altitude and rotation sensors^[3]
• Automatic triggering of cameras or external actuators^[4]

PX4 is capable of integrating with other autopilot software, such as the QGroundControl ground control station software,^[5] via the MAVLink (Micro Air Vehicle Communication) protocol.^[6]

PX4 is open-source and available under a BSD-3-Clause license.

Supported hardware

For an up-to-date and complete list of the hardware supported by the PX4 Autopilot, visit their "Compatible Hardware" website.