Initial Setup & Configuration
We recommend that developers obtain the basic equipment and software described below (or similar)
Basic Equipment
TIP
PX4 can be used with a much wider range of equipment than described here, but new developers will benefit from going with one of the standard setups. A Taranis RC plus a Note 4 tablet make up for a very inexpensive field kit.
The equipment below is highly recommended:
- Remote control for the safety pilot
- Taranis Plus remote control (or equivalent)
- Development computer
- MacBook Pro (early 2015 and later) with OSX 10.15 or later
- Lenovo Thinkpad 450 (i5) with Ubuntu Linux 18.04 or later
- Ground control station (computer or tablet):
- iPad (requires Wifi telemetry adapter)
- Any MacBook or Ubuntu Linux laptop (can be the development computer)
- Samsung Note 4 or equivalent (any recent Android tablet or phone with a large enough screen to run QGroundControl effectively).
- Vehicle capable of running PX4:
- Safety glasses
- Tether (multicopter only - for more risky tests)
Vehicle Configuration
Install the QGroundControl Daily Build for a desktop OS.
To configure the vehicle:
- Install PX4 firmware (including "custom" firmware with your own changes).
- Start with the airframe that best-matches your vehicle from the airframe reference.
- Basic Configuration explains how to perform basic configuration.
- Parameter Configuration explains how you can find and modify individual parameters.
INFO
- QGroundControl mobile variants do not support vehicle configuration.
- The daily build includes development tools and new features that are not available in the official release.
- Configuration in the airframe reference have been flown on real vehicles, and are a good starting point for "getting off the ground".