Paparazzi is an open-source autopilot system oriented toward inexpensive autonomous aircraft.[1] Low cost and availability enable hobbyist use in small remotely piloted aircraft.[2] The project began in 2003,[1] and is being further developed and used at École nationale de l'aviation civile (ENAC), a French civil aeronautics academy. Several vendors are currently producing Paparazzi autopilots and accessories.
An autopilot allows a remotely piloted aircraft to be flown out of sight.[1] All hardware and software is open-source and freely available to anyone under the GNU licensing agreement. Open Source autopilots provide flexible software: users can easily modify the autopilot based on their own special requirements, such as forest fire evaluation.[3] Paparazzi collaborators share ideas and information using the same MediaWiki software that is used by Wikipedia.[4]
Paparazzi accepts commands and sensor data, and adjusts flight controls accordingly. For example, a command might be to climb at a certain rate, and paparazzi will adjust power and/or control surfaces. As of 2010 paparazzi did not have a good speed hold and changing function, because no airspeed sensor reading is considered by the controller.[5]
Delft University of Technology released its Lisa/S chip project in 2013 which is based on Paparazzi.
Paparazzi supports for multiple hardware designs, including STM32 and LPC2100 series microcontrollers. A number of CAD files have been released.
Paparazzi provides for a minimum set of flight sensors:[6]
The open-source software suite "contains everything" to let "airborne system fly reliably".[7]