PX4-Autopilot Documentation

File: README.md Copy Chapter

About Copy Chapter

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 Copy Chapter

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 Copy Chapter

_{…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 Copy Chapter

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 Copy Chapter

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 Copy Chapter

Community Copy Chapter

• Weekly Dev Call — open to all developers (Dronecode calendar)
• Discord — Join the Dronecode server
• Discussion Forum — PX4 Discuss
• Maintainers — see MAINTAINERS.md
• Contributor Stats — LFX Insights

Contributing Copy Chapter

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

Citation Copy Chapter

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 Copy Chapter

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.

File: docs/index.md Copy Chapter

https://vitepress.dev/reference/default-theme-home-page

layout: home

hero:
name: "PX4"
text: "Autopilot"
tagline: Open-source flight stack for drones and autonomous vehicles. BSD-3 licensed. Vendor neutral.
image: /px4-logo.svg
actions:
- theme: brand
text: Read the docs
link: /en/index.md
- theme: alt
text: Website
link: https://px4.io/
- theme: alt
text: Source code on GitHub
link: https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot

features:

• title: Modular Architecture
  details: Built on uORB, a DDS-compatible publish/subscribe middleware. Every module runs as its own thread, fully parallelized and thread safe. Build custom configurations and strip out what you don't need.
• title: Wide Hardware Support
  details: Supports Pixhawk-standard flight controllers and a growing range of boards beyond that standard. DroneCAN peripherals run PX4 firmware in CAN node mode. No vendor lock-in.
• title: Developer Friendly
  details: First-class MAVLink and DDS/ROS 2 integration. Comprehensive SITL simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and log analysis tools. MAVSDK provides a high-level SDK/API for programmatic vehicle interaction.
• title: Autonomy Ready
  details: Extensible architecture for advanced autonomy. External modes, offboard control, and DDS/ROS 2 interfaces provide the building blocks for computer vision, GPS-denied navigation, and custom flight behaviors.
• title: Proven at Scale
  details: Millions of vehicles deployed worldwide across commercial, defense, and research applications. Continuous flight testing validates the codebase across multirotors, fixed-wing, VTOL, helicopters, rovers, and more.
• title: Permissive License
  details: BSD 3-Clause. Use it, modify it, ship it in proprietary products. You only need to include the original copyright notice and license text.
• title: Interoperability
  details: Part of a modular ecosystem. PX4 (autopilot), MAVLink (protocol), QGroundControl (ground station), Pixhawk (hardware standard), MAVSDK (SDK/API), and ROS 2 via DDS or Zenoh. All Dronecode projects, all open source.
• title: Vendor Neutral Governance
  details: Hosted by the Dronecode Foundation under the Linux Foundation. No single company owns the name or controls the roadmap. Community-driven with a weekly open dev call.

search: false footer: BSD 3-clause license Copy Chapter

File: docs/README.md Copy Chapter

PX4 User Guide

This repo contains the source code for the PX4 User Guide.

[!NOTE]
Contributions and Translations to this guide are very welcome!