AetherOS
Drone Platform
The only autopilot with a built-in web GCS, native swarm, cloud fleet management, and edge AI — all on a $20 ESP32-S3 flight controller. Familiar to experts. Accessible to beginners. Purpose-built for real missions.
What makes AetherOS different
Not just another flight controller. A complete platform.
Built-in Web GCS
Open a browser — no installs, no USB cable. Your GCS is hosted on the drone.
Native Swarm
ESP-NOW mesh networking for multi-drone missions without any extra hardware.
Cloud Fleet
MQTT-based fleet management, remote OTA, and analytics for dozens of drones.
Edge AI/ML
TFLite Micro on ESP32-S3 — obstacle avoidance, gesture control, PID auto-tune.
OTA Updates
A/B partition OTA over WiFi. Update firmware from the browser — no tools needed.
DSHOT + MAVLink
Digital motor protocol, 1 kHz flight loop, full MAVLink 2.0 + MSP v2 compat.
Built for everyone
One platform — three completely different experiences.
Experts
ArduPilot / PX4 / Betaflight users
- MAVLink 2.0 — QGroundControl & Mission Planner work natively
- MSP v2 — Betaflight Configurator connects over USB
- Same PID, mixer, and RC concepts you already know
- Plus native WiFi, OTA, swarm, and AI you never had before
Builders & Newbies
First drone? No problem.
- DroneBuilder — PCPartPicker for drones
- Drag-drop components, see compatibility errors instantly
- Physics simulation: flight time, thrust-to-weight, hover %
- AI debug assistant diagnoses your flying problems
Students & Engineers
Domain-specific missions
- AppForge — guided wizard for your exact use case
- Agricultural sprayer with auto lawnmower missions
- Underwater ROV with buoyancy + depth calculations
- Infrastructure inspection & search-and-rescue patterns
How we compare
| Feature | ArduPilot | PX4 | Betaflight | AetherOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAVLink 2.0 compatible | — | |||
| MSP v2 compatible | — | — | ||
| Built-in Web GCS | — | — | — | |
| OTA firmware update | — | — | — | |
| Native swarm | — | — | — | |
| Cloud fleet mgmt | — | — | — | |
| Edge AI/ML | — | — | — | |
| Visual drone builder | — | — | — | |
| Domain app wizards | — | — | — |
Ready to build?
Start with DroneBuilder to assemble your first drone, or dive into AppForge for a domain-specific mission. Everything exports to a ready-to-flash AetherOS config.