The Pixhawk FC has become recognised as one of the most advanced, low-cost autopilot systems available. It is a brilliant piece of kit that can turn any fixed-wing aircraft, rotary-wing, multirotor or even boats and cars into a fully autonomous vehicle; capable of performing a wide range of tasks, even pre-programmed GPS missions with waypoints. The list of what this flight controller is capable of has quickly been surpassed by what it cannot, with an ever expanding set of features, flight modes, and supported platforms. Furthermore, the Pixhawk project is supported by a number of development communities making it one of the most flexible and reliable platforms for vehicle control. 

Pixhawk is an open-hardware project and as such there are many versions of the Pixhawk FC available. The version of the Pixhawk being sold here is based on the original 3DR Version 1 FMUv2 Autopilot design. 3DR no longer make the FC, but as it's based open source hardware design and runs open-source firmware we've had the Pixhawk manufactured ourselves to the same specification, with a couple of tweaks to improved reliability further.

Pixhawk Comparison: Left our version of the Pixhawk / Right beware of cheaper inferior versions of the Pixhawk

Our version of the Pixhawk has been designed according to the FMUv2 circuit schematic with a number of revisions to improve reliability. It includes a system clock backup battery, independent LDO (low-dropout) voltage regulator to improved the power supply reliability, USB power supply protection circuit and gold-plated socket connections.

Pixhawk Wiring Quickstart Guide

Features:

• Advanced 32 bit ARM Cortex® M4 Processor running NuttX RTOS (68 MHz / 252 MIPS Cortex-M4F)
• 14 PWM/servo outputs (8 with failsafe and manual override, 6 auxiliary, high-power compatible)
• Abundant connectivity options for additional peripherals (UART, I2C, CAN)
• Integrated backup system for in-flight recovery and manual override with dedicated processor and stand-alone power supply
• Backup system integrates mixing, providing consistent autopilot and manual override mixing modes
• Redundant power supply inputs and automatic failover
• External safety button for easy motor activation
• Multicolor LED indicator
• High-power, multi-tone piezo audio indicator
• MicroSD card for long-time high-rate logging

Accessories:

• GPS/Compass Module: A GPS / Compass Module allows you to unlock the full potential of your Pixhawk FC, facilitating autonomous flight functions and providing positional telemetry data.
• Telemetry Kit: The Telemetry Radio Kit allows you to easily add a two-way telemetry connection between your autopilot and ground station wirelessly, providing unparalleled ease of use for viewing in-flight data, changing missions on the fly, and tuning.
• I2C Splitter: The I2C splitter is used to expand the Pixhawk's I2C port. It can be used to connect additional modules for example an airspeed sensor, magnetometer and external LED.
• Power Module / HV Power Module: The Power Module (PM) for the Pixhawk provides a plug and play solution for powering your flight controller with clean power from a LiPo battery, as well as reporting battery voltage and current consumption for logging and live telemetry.
• PWM to PPM Encoder: The Pixhawk doesn't support traditional PWM RC receivers so this device can be used to convert from individual PWM channels to a single PPM input.
• USB / Status LED Module: This module includes a status LED which can be used to indicate arming / battery status. It also features a USB connection that makes it easy to connect to the Pixhawk for programming.
• Micro OSD: The Micro OSD (On-Screen-Display) adds a telemetry overlay to your FPV, so you can view status information such as flight mode, altitude, speed, heading and lots more in real-time on your video feed.
• Optical Flow Smart Camera Kit: This unit combines a special camera & sonar sensor to provide the Pixhawk FC with the ability to position lock when no GPS signal is available, for example indoors. It can also be used in conjunction with the GPS data to provide a more accurate position lock. The sonar sensor can be used to provide a terrain tracking capability.
• Ligthweight Micro USB Extension Wire

Pixhawk Bundles:

What can the APM Board Control?

• Multirotors - APM: Copter
• Planes - APM:Plane
• Helicopters - APM: Copter
• Rovers - APM: Rover

Resources:

• Pixhawk Wiki

FREE Ground Control Stations / Software

• Mission Planner
• QGroundControl

QGroundControl Software Interface