We recommend that developers obtain the basic equipment described below (or similar) and use a "default" airframe configuration.
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:
- A Taranis Plus remote control for the safety pilot (or equivalent)
- A 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
- A ground control station device:
- 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).
- Safety glasses
- For multicopters - tether for more risky tests
Tip QGroundControl for a desktop OS is required for vehicle configuration. You should use (and regularly update) the daily build in order to take advantage of the latest features in PX4.
To configure the vehicle:
- Download the QGroundControl Daily Build for your development platform.
- Basic Configuration (PX4 User Guide) explains how to to perform basic configuration.
- Parameter Configuration (PX4 User Guide) explains how you can find and modify individual parameters.