Frequently asked questions
// The platform
The platform
What is Altnautica?
Altnautica is an open-source, software-defined drone platform. It provides an onboard drone agent, a browser-based ground control station called Mission Control, a ground station, a compute workstation, and cloud fleet management, so you can make almost any drone smart and autonomous.
What is ADOS?
ADOS is Altnautica's drone operating stack: the software layers that run across the drone, the ground, and the cloud. It is open source under GPLv3, works with ArduPilot, PX4, Betaflight, and iNav, and runs on hardware you already own.
Is Altnautica free and open source?
Yes. Mission Control, the drone agent, the ground agent, and the workstation are free and open source under GPLv3, and the MCP server is MIT. There is no paid edition and no locked features.
// Compatibility
Compatibility
What companion computer works with ArduPilot?
A Raspberry Pi, NVIDIA Jetson, or almost any ARM64 Linux board works as an ArduPilot companion computer once you install the Altnautica drone agent. It connects to the flight controller over MAVLink and adds video, long-range links, cloud connectivity, and on-vehicle AI. Nineteen boards have their own profile today, and generic ARM64 and x86_64 fallbacks cover the rest.
Which flight-controller firmware does Altnautica support?
Altnautica supports ArduPilot and PX4 fully over MAVLink, and Betaflight and iNav over MSP. The same Mission Control ground station configures and flies all four.
What hardware does the drone agent run on?
The drone agent ships profiles for 19 companion boards, plus generic ARM64 and x86_64 fallbacks, from a Raspberry Pi 3, 4, and 5 and Compute Modules to NVIDIA Jetson Nano and Orin Nano, Radxa, Orange Pi, BeagleBoard, and other ARM64 Linux boards. One install command detects the board and configures it.
| Firmware | Protocol | Mission Control | Drone agent |
|---|---|---|---|
| ArduPilot | MAVLink | ||
| PX4 | MAVLink | ||
| Betaflight | MSP | ||
| iNav | MSP |
ArduPilot
Protocol (MAVLink), Mission Control, Drone agent
PX4
Protocol (MAVLink), Mission Control, Drone agent
Betaflight
Protocol (MSP), Mission Control, Drone agent
iNav
Protocol (MSP), Mission Control, Drone agent
// Getting started
Getting started
How do I make an existing drone autonomous?
Add a companion computer running the Altnautica drone agent next to your flight controller, connect them over MAVLink, and control the drone from Mission Control. You keep your existing ArduPilot, PX4, Betaflight, or iNav flight controller and gain autonomy, long-range video, and fleet connectivity in software.
Is there an open-source ground control station?
Yes. Altnautica Mission Control is an open-source, browser-based ground control station for any drone. It runs in the browser with no install and covers fleet telemetry, mission planning, a 3D simulator, deep flight-controller configuration, and an immersive cockpit, all under GPLv3.
Does Altnautica need the internet or the cloud?
No. The platform is local-first. Mission Control reaches a drone directly over the local network, and the drone-to-ground link is a local radio. Cloud fleet management through MeshNet is an optional layer for remote access and analytics.
// Ground station
Ground station
What does the Altnautica ground agent do?
The ground agent turns a Linux board into a ground station for any drone. It receives long-range WFB-ng video and telemetry over an RTL8812EU radio, serves the video over MediaMTX WebRTC, and relays telemetry to every connected screen. It is the same binary as the drone agent, running the ground-station profile, under GPLv3.
How do screens connect to the ground station?
Four ways, at the same time: an HDMI kiosk with a gamepad, a WiFi access point for laptops and phones, a USB-C tether for Mac and Windows, and a native Android app. Pilot-in-command arbitration keeps one pilot on the sticks while everyone else observes.
Can several ground stations work together?
Yes. Two or three ground nodes take one of three roles: direct, relay, or receiver. A self-healing batman-adv mesh carries received fragments between them, WFB-ng FEC combines them, and any node with a working uplink is elected the cloud gateway. A relay can be promoted to receiver without a reboot.
// Comparisons
Comparisons
What is an open-source alternative to first-party drone platforms?
Altnautica is an open-source, software-defined drone platform that runs on hardware you choose. You get an open ground station, an onboard agent, long-range video, and cloud fleet management that you can inspect, modify, and self-host, working with ArduPilot, PX4, Betaflight, and iNav.
Why choose an open-source drone platform?
An open-source platform lets you inspect, modify, self-host, and extend every layer, avoids vendor lock-in, and keeps your data and fleet under your control. Altnautica is GPLv3 across the stack and works with any supported drone, so the software outlives any single airframe or vendor.