PX4-Autopilot README

The project's README from github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot. As one markdown file: README.md.

PX4 Autopilot

The autopilot stack the industry builds on.

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About

PX4 is an open-source autopilot stack for drones and unmanned vehicles. It supports multirotors, fixed-wing, VTOL, rovers, and many more experimental platforms from racing quads to industrial survey aircraft. It runs on NuttX, Linux, and macOS. Licensed under BSD 3-Clause.

Why PX4

Modular architecture. PX4 is built around uORB, a DDS-compatible publish/subscribe middleware. Modules are fully parallelized and thread safe. You can build custom configurations and trim what you don't need.

Wide hardware support. PX4 runs on a wide range of autopilot boards and supports an extensive set of sensors, telemetry radios, and actuators through the Pixhawk ecosystem.

Developer friendly. First-class support for MAVLink and DDS / ROS 2 integration. Comprehensive SITL simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and log analysis tools. An active developer community on Discord and the weekly dev call.

Vendor neutral governance. PX4 is hosted under the Dronecode Foundation, part of the Linux Foundation. Business-friendly BSD-3 license. No single vendor controls the roadmap.

Supported Vehicles

Multicopter
Multicopter 		Fixed Wing
Fixed Wing 		VTOL
VTOL 		Rover
Rover

…and many more: helicopters, autogyros, airships, submarines, boats, and other experimental platforms. These frames have basic support but are not part of the regular flight-test program. See the full airframe reference.

Try PX4

Run PX4 in simulation with a single command. No build tools, no dependencies beyond Docker:

docker run --rm -it -p 14550:14550/udp px4io/px4-sitl:latest

Open QGroundControl and fly. See PX4 Simulation Quickstart for more options.

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot.git --recursive
cd PX4-Autopilot
make px4_sitl

[!NOTE] See the Development Guide for toolchain setup and build options.

Documentation & Resources

Resource Description
User Guide Build, configure, and fly with PX4
Developer Guide Modify the flight stack, add peripherals, port to new hardware
Airframe Reference Full list of supported frames
Autopilot Hardware Compatible flight controllers
Release Notes What's new in each release
Contribution Guide How to contribute to PX4

Community

Contributing

We welcome contributions of all kinds — bug reports, documentation, new features, and code reviews. Please read the Contribution Guide to get started.

Citation

If you use PX4 in academic work, please cite it. BibTeX:

@software{px4_autopilot,
  author    = {Meier, Lorenz and {The PX4 Contributors}},
  title     = {{PX4 Autopilot}},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  doi       = {10.5281/zenodo.595432},
  url       = {https://px4.io}
}

The DOI above is a Zenodo concept DOI that always resolves to the latest release. For a version-pinned citation, see the Zenodo record or our CITATION.cff.

Governance

The PX4 Autopilot project is hosted by the Dronecode Foundation, a Linux Foundation Collaborative Project. Dronecode holds all PX4 trademarks and serves as the project's legal guardian, ensuring vendor-neutral stewardship — no single company owns the name or controls the roadmap. The source code is licensed under the BSD 3-Clause license, so you are free to use, modify, and distribute it in your own projects.

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PX4-Autopilot (PX4/PX4-Autopilot)

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12.8K ·GitHub
PX4-Autopilot
这是什么？PX4 是一个面向无人机和无人载具的开源自动驾驶仪软件栈，是多旋翼、固定翼飞机、垂直起降机、地面车辆和其他无人平台背后的飞行软件。
那它是装在我笔记本电脑上的应用，还是真正控制无人机飞行的软件？它就是飞行软件栈本身 —— 是运行在载具自动驾驶板上的固件，底层系统是 NuttX。它也能运行在 Linux 和 macOS 上，仿真环境用的就是这个。
我能先不买无人机就试一试吗？可以 —— 用一条命令就能在仿真环境运行 PX4,除了 Docker 之外不需要任何构建工具或依赖。然后打开 QGroundControl,就能操控仿真载具飞行。
如果要真机飞行，我需要什么硬件？需要一块 Pixhawk 生态里的自动驾驶板 —— PX4 支持众多飞控，外加大量传感器、数传电台和执行器。
那特别少见的载具呢，比如飞艇、潜水器、船？这些只有基础支持：这类机型不在常规飞行测试计划之内，成熟度比多旋翼或固定翼要低。
我能把它用在自己的商业产品里吗，还是有什么限制？采用 BSD 3-Clause 许可证 —— 你可以自由使用、修改和分发，包括用在商业产品中。
uORB 是什么？是 PX4 所依赖的发布/订阅中间件。它兼容 DDS,运行在其上的模块完全并行化，并且线程安全。
我能把 PX4 精简到只保留我的载具需要的部分吗？可以。它的架构是模块化的，你可以构建自定义配置，去掉不需要的部分 —— 开发者指南里还介绍了如何移植到新硬件。
开发者怎么测试飞行代码，又不用担心真的坠机？PX4 自带完善的 SITL 仿真、硬件在环测试和日志分析工具，所以在真正上天之前，大部分工作都能先验证好。
项目的发展方向由谁决定？不由任何单一厂商掌控：PX4 由 Dronecode 基金会托管，这是一个 Linux 基金会协作项目，持有相关商标并提供厂商中立的治理。
What are similar projects?ardupilot, AirSim, INSLIB, autoware, betaflight, carla, intrinsic-core, apollo
Which topics is it in?drones, rtos, ros2, ros, autonomous-vehicles, robotics, simulation, firmware, embedded, hardware, bsd, cpp
Creator
PX4
Size
578.1 MB
Stars
12.8K
Updated
CommitOct 17Releasev1.17.0May 13
Age
14y
Commits · 90 Days