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PX4 Development Toolkit

Reproducible PX4 and ROS 2 development from simulation to physical flight.

Build, run, record, and analyze PX4 experiments using the same toolkit across Gazebo SITL and physical hardware.

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PX4 F450 running in Gazebo simulation F450 quadrotor in flight

Installation

Start with the published Docker images or install the toolkit natively on Ubuntu 24.04.

Choose an installation →

Simulation

Run PX4 SITL with Gazebo, uXRCE-DDS, MAVProxy, and QGroundControl.

Run SITL →

Hardware

Run the same ROS 2 workflows with a physical PX4 vehicle, serial XRCE-DDS, and Vicon motion capture.

Run on hardware →

Control

Develop and evaluate Offboard controllers, geometric SE(3) control, and reusable trajectories.

Explore controllers →

Analysis

Record repeatable experiments and analyze trajectories, controller behavior, and the PX4 control pipeline.

Analyze results →

Choose an installation

Use either installation path depending on how you want to work.

Docker provides the lowest-setup path using the published SITL and hardware images.

Native installs ROS 2, PX4 dependencies, pinned sources, and the toolkit workspace directly on Ubuntu 24.04.

Both provide the same toolkit workflows after installation.

From simulation to hardware

The toolkit keeps the workflow consistent across the two runtime environments.

flowchart LR
    D[Install toolkit] --> E{Environment}
    E -->|Simulation| S[PX4 SITL + Gazebo]
    E -->|Physical platform| H[PX4 hardware + Vicon]
    S --> C[ROS 2 controllers]
    H --> C
    C --> R[Recording]
    R --> A[Analysis and comparison]

Suggested first journey

For a new simulation user:

  1. Install with Docker or install natively.
  2. Run the SITL environment.
  3. Review the controller overview.
  4. Run the SE(3) controller.
  5. Record a run or run a sequence.
  6. Analyze and compare the results.

Documentation

Browse all documentation using the sidebar, or jump directly to a topic: