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Open Access

REVIEW

A Survey of Pixhawk/PX4 Autopilot and Its Impact on Research and Education

Nourdine Aliane*
Department of Engineering, Universidad Europea de Madrid, Villaviciosa de Odón, Madrid, Spain
* Corresponding Author: Nourdine Aliane. Email: email
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advanced Technologies and Intelligent Applications for Autonomous Vehicles)

Computers, Materials & Continua https://doi.org/10.32604/cmc.2026.078545

Received 03 January 2026; Accepted 10 March 2026; Published online 20 March 2026

Abstract

The rapid advancement of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies has increased demand for flexible autopilot platforms suitable for both research and education. Among available options, the open-source Pixhawk/PX4 autopilot has emerged as a leading solution due to its modular architecture and robust software ecosystem. This survey examines the adoption of the Pixhawk/PX4 platform in research and education. The survey covers the analysis of the Pixhawk/PX4 autopilot software development APIs, its compatibility with ROS middleware and MATLAB/Simulink environments, and environments for software/hardware-in-the-loop simulations. Additionally, it explores the integration of Cutting-Edge technologies to enhance UAVs performance. By synthesizing these findings, this survey presents a holistic map of the Pixhawk/PX4 ecosystem, and it serves as a multifaceted resource, providing its diverse audience with critical insights to support informed tool selection for UAV development projects.

Keywords

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); autopilot; flight controller; Pixhawk/PX4; MAVLink; MATLAB/Simulink support package; software-in-the-loop; hardware-in-the-loop; ROS

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