AUTOPILOT

QUICK START GUIDE
PARTS

1 Pixhawk board with SD card

2 Buzzer

3 Safety switch 

4 SD card USB adapter

5 Micro-USB cable

6 Six-wire cable x2 

 7 Power module

 8 I2C splitter module

 9 Four-position I2C splitter cable

10 Three-wire servo cable

11 Mounting foam

1 2 3 4 5 7

8 11

 MOUNT 

Use the provided foam to mount Pixhawk as close as possible to your vehicle’s center of gravity. 

Make sure to orient the board with the arrow pointing forward.

Vehicle front

Attach the foam squares to the 

corners of the board.

GETTING STARTED

With the help of APM firmware, Pixhawk turns 

any RC plane, copter, or rover into a full-featured 

personal drone. Once you have a fully-assembled 

frame, follow this guide to install Pixhawk.

6

9 10

1 Mount

2 Connect

3 Load firmware

4 Calibrate

1
 CONNECT 

(Required) Connect the buzzer 

and safety switch.

(Optional) Connect a 3DR 

Radio to Pixhawk’s Telem 

port using the 6-wire cable 

provided with your 3DR 

Radio Kit to receive data 

and communicate with 

the autopilot in flight. 

(GPS or GPS+Compass required)

Connect a 3DR GPS+Compass to 

provide the autopilot with positioning 

data during flight. This kit includes 

a 6-wire cable to connect the GPS 

ports. Connect the MAG to the I2C 

port using the 4-wire cable provided 

with the 3DR GPS+Compass.

(Required) Connect the 3DR 

Power Module to the Power 

port using the 6-wire cable to 

direct power from your lithium 

polymer (LiPo) battery to the 

autopilot.

(Optional) The I2C splitter expands the I2C port to allow 

up to four additional peripherals to connect to Pixhawk. 

Use the 4-wire cable to connect the I2C splitter and add a 

compass module, external LED, digital airspeed sensor, 

or other peripherals to your vehicle.

2
Connect the ground (-), power (+), and signal (S) wires to the 

RC pins using the provided 3-wire servo cable.

For a Spektrum DSM, DSM2, or DSM-X Satellite RC 

receiver, connect to the SPKT/DSM port.

Connect the red and black 2-wire cable from the power distribution board (PDB) to any of 

Pixhawk’s main ground (-, black wire) and power (+, red wire) output pins.

LEARN MORE

about assembling a copter with a power distribution board at 3dr.com/learn.

CONNECT RADIO CONTROL

FOR PPM RC RECEIVERS AND FUTABA S.BUS RECEIVERS

CONNECT PDB (COPTERS ONLY)

FOR SPEKTRUM SATELLITE RECEIVERS

FOR PWM RECEIVERS

Purchase a PPM Encoder 

module to connect a PWM 

RC receiver to Pixhawk at 

store.3dr.com.
 LOAD FIRMWARE 

APM firmware is the brains of your autopilot operation and must be installed before using Pixhawk. 

To load firmware onto Pixhawk, install a mission planner application on your ground station computer. 

Choose either Mission Planner (Windows) or APM Planner for (Windows, Mac, and Linux). 

Both applications are available for free download from ardupilot.com.

For rovers, connect the throttle and 

steering wires to the main output signal 

pins.

Pin 3 = Throttle

Pin 4 = Steering

Mission planner

Firmware

FOR COPTERS

FOR PLANES

FOR ROVERS

Connect each signal wire from the PDB 

to the main output signal (S) pins by 

motor number. Connect one wire for 

each motor to the corresponding pin.

Pin 1 = Motor 1 Pin 5 = Motor 5

Pin 2 = Motor 2 Pin 6 = Motor 6

Pin 3 = Motor 3 Pin 7 = Motor 7

Pin 4 = Motor 4 Pin 8 = Motor 8

For planes, connect the control channel 

wires to the main output signal pins.

Pin 1 = Aileron

Pin 2 = Elevator

Pin 3 = Throttle

Pin 4 = Rudder

CONNECT OUTPUTS

3
Download Mission Planner (Windows)

Mission Planner « Downloads

Sort by: Title | Hits | Date

■ MissionPlanner - Installer Select the installer 

package to download.

Ardupilot.com Downloads Mission Planner

After selecting the correct file, read the safety information and select Download.

Open the file to run the setup wizard. Proceed through any security warnings, and install all 

suggested drivers. When the installation is complete, open the application, and connect Pixhawk to 

your computer using the micro-USB cable. 

Your computer will automatically install the correct drivers. Do not select Connect at this time; Pixhawk 

can only load firmware while unconnected to Mavlink. 

Download APM Planner (Windows, Mac, and Linux)

APM Planner 2.0 « Downloads

Sort by: Title | Hits | Date

■ APM Planner 2.0 Mac

■ APM Planner 2.0 Windows

■ APM Planner 2.0 Linux

Select your platform 

to download.

Ardupilot.com Downloads APM Planner 2.0

INSTALL PLANNER
When prompted, follow the directions to load the firmware. Once the status bar shows that the download is complete, power cycle the board by disconnecting and reconnecting the USB.

If you hear a musical tone, your firmware installation is complete. If you hear a series of tones followed 

by three beeps, disconnect the USB and reconnect while holding down the safety button. Upon restart, 

listen for a series of tones followed by two beeps indicating that your firmware has loaded successfully.

beep BEEP beep... 

BEEP BEEP  Pixhawk needs your attention:

beep BEEP beep... BEEP BEEP BEEP

Everything is OK:

musical tone 

Select Initial Setup, Install Firmware, and select your vehicle.

 CALIBRATE

With Pixhawk connected to your computer, select the communication option from the drop-down menu 

for PX4 FMU, set the rate to 115200, and select the Connect icon. Select Initial Setup and Mandatory 

Hardware to access the calibration wizards. 

Remove propellers before performing calibration. !

4
SELECT FRAME TYPE (COPTERS ONLY)

CALIBRATE COMPASS

Select the options to enable the compass; to allow automatic declination 

calculation; and to specify Pixhawk. Select Live Calibration to launch the 

wizard, and follow the prompts.

Show Me

videos demonstrating live calibration techniques at 3dr.com/learn.

For copter, select your frame orientation. 
CALIBRATE ACCELEROMETER

SELECT FLIGHT MODES

4

5

6

RC CALIBRATION

Left stick

Right stick

Select Accel Calibration, check the box for AC 3.0+, select Calibrate, 

and follow the prompts to calibrate Pixhawk’s accelerometer. Make 

sure to wait a couple of seconds before and after changing the 

positions of the vehicle.

Select Radio Calibration to teach Pixhawk to work with your RC 

transmitter. Turn on your transmitter, select Calibrate Radio, and move 

all sticks and switches to their extreme positions. Select Click when Done

once the red bars are set for all available channels.

Move each switch on your transmitter to its available positions. The mission 

planner will indicate the currently selected position with green highlighting. 

Select a mode for each switch position, and select Save Modes to assign.
LED MEANINGS

Flashing red and blue: initializing. Please wait.

Double flashing yellow: error. System refuses to arm.

Flashing blue: disarmed, searching for GPS. Autonomous, loiter, and return-to-launch 

modes require GPS lock.

Flashing green: disarmed, GPS lock acquired. Ready to arm. Quick double tone when 

disarming from the armed state.

Solid green plus single long tone: armed with GPS lock. Ready to fly!

Flashing yellow: RC failsafe activated.

Flashing yellow plus quick repeating tone: battery failsafe activated.

Flashing yellow and blue plus high-high-high-low tone: GPS glitch or GPS failsafe 

activated.

Quick, constant blinking: performing system check. Please wait.

Solid: ready to arm. Proceed to the arming procedure.

Intermittent blinking: system ready. Press the safety button to activate.

SAFETY SWITCH MEANINGS

Learn more

about LED meanings and buzzer tones at 3dr.com/learn.
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

1 Spektrum DSM receiver

2 Telemetry (radio telemetry)

3 Telemetry (on-screen display)

4 USB

5 SPI (serial peripheral interface) bus

6 Power module

7 Safety switch button

8 Buzzer

 9 Serial

10 GPS module

11 CAN (controller area network) bus

12 I

2

C splitter or compass module

13 Analog to digital converter 6.6 V

14 Analog to digital converter 3.3 V 

15 LED indicator

PORTS

1 2

3 4

1 Input/output reset button

2 SD card

3 Flight management reset button 

4 Micro-USB port

1 2

ground

power

signal

1 Radio control receiver input

2 S.Bus output

3 Main outputs

4 Auxiliary outputs

3 4
Processor

32-bit ARM Cortex M4 core with FPU

168 Mhz/256 KB RAM/2 MB Flash

32-bit failsafe co-processor

Sensors

ST Micro 16-bit gyroscope

ST Micro 14-bit accelerometer/magnetometer

MEAS barometer

MPU6000 accelerometer/magnetometer

Power

Ideal diode controller with automatic failover

Servo rail high-power (7 V) and high-current ready

All peripheral outputs over-current protected, all 

inputs ESC protected

Interfaces

5x UART serial ports, 1 high-power capable, 2x 

with HW flow control

Spektrum DSM/DSM2/DSM-X Satellite input

Futaba S.BUS input and output

PPM sum signal

RSSI (PWM or voltage) input

I

2

C, SPI, 2x CAN, USB

3.3 and 6.6 ADC inputs

Dimensions

Weight 38 g (1.3 oz)

Width 50 mm (2.0”)

Height 15.5 mm (.6”)

Length 81.5 mm (3.2”)

SPECIFICATIONS

SPECIAL NOTE

SUPPORT

For more information about Pixhawk and other documentation, visit 

3dr.com/learn. For more instruction on using APM firmware and 

planner software, visit ardupilot.com.

For customer support, contact us at help@3dr.com or call our 

support line at +1 (858) 225-1414 Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm, PST

Pixhawk Kit User Guide V6 © 3D Robotics, Inc. 5 February 2014

Please note that these instructions describe basic setup for Pixhawk and do not 

represent the complete set of configuration procedures required to build a copter, 

plane, or rover. 

For more information on ESC calibration, battery monitoring, failsafes, mode 

descriptions, and more, visit ardupilot.com. Do not operate your vehicle without a 

complete understanding of the online instructions.