PX4 Autopilot
- Software
- Drones and boats
- Firmware
PX4 is an open-source autopilot stack for drones and other unmanned vehicles, supporting multirotors, fixed-wing, VTOL and rovers. It runs on NuttX, Linux and macOS.
Source on GitHub: github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot (opens in a new tab). Facts read at commit 2b54c6a (opens in a new tab).
Licenses
- Code
- BSD-3-Clause (opens in a new tab)
Read by Robotheca from LICENSE (opens in a new tab) (BSD-3-Clause) at commit 2b54c6a (opens in a new tab), on 31 Oct 2026.
- Commercial use
- Yes
What it does: Robotheca's summary
- Modular architecture built around the uORB publish/subscribe middleware, with modules that are parallelized and thread safe.
- Wide hardware support through autopilot boards, sensors, telemetry radios and actuators in the Pixhawk ecosystem.
- Developer tools include MAVLink and DDS/ROS 2 integration, SITL simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing and log analysis.
- Runs in simulation with a single Docker command, flown from QGroundControl.
- Also covers helicopters, autogyros, airships, submarines and boats, with basic support for these frames.
Written by Robotheca from the project's README (opens in a new tab) at commit 33109cd.
Getting started
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Hardware it needs, as the project states it
- Runs on NuttX, Linux and macOS; boards and sensors are listed in the autopilot hardware documentation.
- How to start
- The project's website (opens in a new tab)
Maintenance
- Status
- Active: a commit in the last 90 days
- Newest commit
- 31 Oct 2026 on main
- Latest release
- v1.17.0 - Stable Release (13 May 2026)
Checked on GitHub on 31 Oct 2026.
Links
Robots that can run it
No robot on Robotheca is linked to it yet. Links come from a robot's robot.yaml, from its dependency files read as text, or from Robotheca's editors.
Robotheca lists software as a reference: nothing is hosted or run here, and every fact links to where it was read.