Using this list
These are community-developed projects, each maintained independently. Some are actively developed and some have not changed in years, so every entry shows its license and the date of its last activity.
- Validate before you rely on it. Test any tool on data where you know the ground truth before operational or evidentiary use. See validation.
- Check it fits your platform. Many parsers support a single manufacturer, model or firmware generation. Read the project’s supported-platform notes first.
- Get code from the source. Install from the project’s own repository and review what you run. Be wary of look-alike repositories that push a downloadable archive in place of source code.
Drone log parsing & telemetry analysis
| Project | What it is for | License | Last activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| DroneXtractgithub.com/ANG13T/DroneXtract | Digital forensics suite for DJI drones. Parses flight logs and telemetry, visualizes flight paths and extracts key metadata for reconstructing DJI flights. | MIT | Jul 2023 Older |
| DROP (DROne Parser)github.com/BiTLab-BaggiliTruthLab/DROP | Extracts and parses the FLY*.DAT files on DJI Phantom III internal storage, recovering low-level flight data for timeline reconstruction. | MIT | Aug 2022 Older |
| dronekit-lagithub.com/dronekit/dronekit-la | Log analyzer for ArduPilot DataFlash logs and MAVLink telemetry logs, for detailed telemetry inspection. | Apache-2.0 | Mar 2022 Older |
| pymavlinkgithub.com/ArduPilot/pymavlink | Python MAVLink library that also ships log-analysis tools such as mavlogdump for reading, filtering and converting MAVLink and ArduPilot logs. | n/a | Sep 2026 |
| INAV Blackbox Toolsgithub.com/iNavFlight/blackbox-tools | Decodes and renders Blackbox logs from INAV flight controllers to support root-cause analysis. | GPL-3.0 | Jan 2026 |
| Gryphon Drone Forensics Toolgithub.com/emantas/gryphon_dft | Extracts critical flight events from ArduPilot DataFlash logs and builds a timeline. Comes from the research paper “Gryphon: Forensics on Dataflash and Telemetry Logs”. | GPL-3.0 | Jul 2020 Older |
| Open DroneLoggithub.com/arpanghosh8453/open-dronelog | Flight-log dashboard for organizing, indexing and searching drone logs, useful for investigative context. | AGPL-3.0 | Sep 2026 |
Ground control stations & live telemetry capture
| Project | What it is for | License | Last activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| QGroundControlgithub.com/mavlink/qgroundcontrol | Full-featured open-source ground control station with telemetry logging and mission export. | Apache-2.0 | Sep 2026 |
| MAVProxygithub.com/ArduPilot/MAVProxy | Lightweight, scriptable MAVLink ground station for capturing live telemetry and working with logs. | GPL-3.0 | Sep 2026 |
Autopilot firmware & simulation
| Project | What it is for | License | Last activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| PX4 Autopilotgithub.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot | Widely used open autopilot with logging and simulation support, good for replicating flight conditions and understanding telemetry. | BSD-3-Clause | Sep 2026 |
| ArduPilotgithub.com/ArduPilot/ardupilot | Open autopilot platform that produces rich telemetry and log artifacts. Useful when building parsers and forensic tools. | GPL-3.0 | Sep 2026 |
| Damn Vulnerable Dronegithub.com/nicholasaleks/Damn-Vulnerable-Drone | Intentionally vulnerable ArduPilot/MAVLink simulator for practising protocol analysis and exploitation in a safe environment. | MIT | Jul 2026 |
Drone security research frameworks
| Project | What it is for | License | Last activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dronesploitgithub.com/dronesploit/dronesploit | Penetration-testing console for light commercial drones, for exploring communications and control surfaces. | GPL-3.0 | Nov 2024 |
| Awesome Drone Hackinggithub.com/nicholasaleks/Awesome-Drone-Hacking | Curated list of tools, exploits, firmware research, RF utilities and protocol resources for drone security research. | MIT | Sep 2026 |
Imagery & geospatial reconstruction
| Project | What it is for | License | Last activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenDroneMap (ODM)github.com/OpenDroneMap/ODM | Command-line toolkit that turns aerial imagery into maps, point clouds, 3D models and elevation models for scene reconstruction. | AGPL-3.0 | Sep 2026 |
| WebODMgithub.com/WebODM/WebODM | Browser-based interface and workflow around ODM for processing aerial imagery at scale. | AGPL-3.0 | Sep 2026 |
| GitHub topic: drone-detectiongithub.com/topics/drone-detection | Community models, many YOLO-based, that detect drones in imagery and video. A starting point when analysing video evidence; quality varies by repository. | n/a | n/a |
General digital forensics & reverse engineering
| Project | What it is for | License | Last activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autopsygithub.com/sleuthkit/autopsy | Widely used open digital forensics platform for examining SD cards, controller tablets and other storage. | n/a | Jun 2026 |
| Ghidragithub.com/NationalSecurityAgency/ghidra | Reverse-engineering framework for analysing firmware, apps and proprietary binaries found in drone components. | Apache-2.0 | Sep 2026 |
| dji-firmware-toolsgithub.com/o-gs/dji-firmware-tools | Tools for handling firmware of DJI products, with a focus on quadcopters: extracting, analysing and modifying firmware images. | GPL-3.0 | Jul 2026 |
| ForensicsToolsgithub.com/mesquidar/ForensicsTools | Curated list of free and open forensic analysis tools, adaptable to drone investigations. | CC0-1.0 | Jul 2026 |