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:
  • Get a prebuilt vehicle
  • Build your own
• Safety glasses
• Tether (multicopter only - for more risky tests)

Vehicle Configuration

Install the QGroundControl Daily Build for a desktop OS.

To configure the vehicle:

1. Install PX4 firmware (including "custom" firmware with your own changes).
2. Start with the airframe that best-matches your vehicle from the airframe reference.
3. Basic Configuration explains how to perform basic configuration.
4. 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".