PX4 (integration shell)

Contributor docs? Building nano-ros’s PX4 example from this repository is covered at PX4 (contributor).

nano-ros lifts the PX4 EXTERNAL_MODULES_LOCATION pattern into a generic copy-out template under integrations/px4/module-template/. Downstream PX4 apps vendor the template, customise it, and point EXTERNAL_MODULES_LOCATION at their copy.

Prereqs

PX4-Autopilot checkout (git clone https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot)
The full PX4 SITL build toolchain (make px4_sitl_default works standalone)

For nano-ros’s in-repo PX4 checks:

just setup px4              # equivalent to: just px4 setup
just px4 doctor

One-liner vendor

cp -r /path/to/nano-ros/integrations/px4/module-template \
      ./my-px4-modules

Layout (PX4 enforces this exactly)

my-px4-modules/
└── src/
    ├── CMakeLists.txt                       (lists module names)
    └── modules/
        └── nano_ros_app/
            ├── CMakeLists.txt               (px4_add_module)
            └── nano_ros_app.cpp             (module body)

Rename nano_ros_app consistently in all three places when adapting for your own module.

Build

export EXTERNAL_MODULES_LOCATION=$PWD/my-px4-modules
export NANO_ROS_DIR=/path/to/nano-ros
make -C $PX4_AUTOPILOT_DIR px4_sitl_default

PX4’s build picks up the module via <location>/src/CMakeLists.txt. The module CMakeLists pulls in nano-ros C++ headers via $NANO_ROS_DIR.

Reference

The validated end-to-end SITL pattern (with the Rust-side nros-rmw-cffi_register weak-stub trick) lives at examples/px4/cpp/uorb/. Use that as the source of truth for the register-check shape; this template is the generic shell for downstreams writing their own modules.

Registry note

PX4 has no central module registry. Downstreams vendor the template via git submodule or cp -r. See Registry Publishing for the cross-ecosystem comparison.

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