ArduPilot Mission Planner

Description

The ArduPilot Project provides an advanced, full-featured and reliable open source autopilot software system. The first ArduPilot open code repository was created in 2009 - since then it has been developed by a team of diverse professional engineers, academics, computer scientists, and other members of our global community. It is capable of controlling almost any vehicle system imaginable: conventional and VTOL airplanes, gliders, multirotors, helicopters, sailboats, powered boats, submarines, ground vehicles and even Balance-Bots. The supported vehicle types frequently expand as use cases emerge for new and novel platforms.

Installed in over 1,000,000 vehicles world-wide, and with advanced data-logging, analysis and simulation tools, ArduPilot is a deeply tested and trusted autopilot system. The open-source code base means that it is rapidly evolving, always at the cutting edge of technology development, whilst sound release processes provide confidence to the end user. With many peripheral suppliers creating interfaces, users benefit from a broad ecosystem of sensors, companion computers and communication systems. Since the source code is open, it can be audited to ensure compliance with security and secrecy requirements.

The software suite is installed in vehicles from many manufacturers, such as many from our Partners, and more broadly throughout the global autonomous systems industry. It is also used for testing and development by large institutions and corporations such as NASA, Intel and Insitu/Boeing, as well as countless colleges and universities around the world.