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Mission Planner

(http://3drobotics.com/kb/mission-planner/)

Planning Missions

Mission Planner allows you to plan autonomous missions. For those not

familiar, an autonomous mission is a pre-programmed script of waypoints

and events uploaded from your ground station to the drone’s autopilot

system. Then, at the time and place of your choosing, the autopilot

executes the commands in sequence to perform the mission.

This page will cover strategies and best practices for planning and flying

successful missions.

Getting Started

To begin planning missions, you’ll first need to install Mission Planner

(http://3drobotics.com/kb/installing-mission-planner/) and launch the

application on your Windows computer. Then connect to the ground station

(http://3drobotics.com/kb/connecting-mission-planner/) and select the the

Flight Plan tab from the top-menu to navigate to the mission planning area.

&
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Preparing for Planning Missions in the Field 

Planning missions at your flying location allows you to incorporate current

conditions into your mission plan, including wind, obstructions (like trees),

and possible hazards. However to do this you will need to come prepared

to the field by first pre-fetching your flying location’s map data.

To pre-fetch maps in Mission Planner

On the Flight Plan screen, zoom to the area of your flying location. (To

select a specific area, hold the ALT key and draw a box over the area.)

Right-click on the map, select Map Tool and Prefetch, and accept the

defaults prompts. Mission Planner will load the map data for your location;

this can take up to a few hours. (Mission Planner will load all zoom level

from the current level through the most detailed. Press the ESC key to skip

the more detailed zoom levels and speed up the prefetching process.)

(http://3drobotics.com/wpcontent/uploads/2014/07/prefetch-mission-planner.png)

Mission Planner Flight Plan: Prefetch map data
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Mission Settings

Setting the home location

The home location is a GPS coordinate that the autopilot will save as the

location that your aircraft returns to in return-to-launch mode. An icon for

the home location will appear on the Flight Plan screen, but this location is

not saved by the autopilot. The home location is always the location where

the vehicle is armed. To account for this, drag the home location icon in

Mission Planner to the position where you will arm the vehicle.

(http://3drobotics.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/04/home_location1.jpg)

Setting a home altitude

Mission Planner will apply the home altitude as the default altitude for each

waypoint you create, although you can customize the altitude for each

waypoint. Altitudes in Mission Planner are in meters unless you have set the

units option to feet (not recommended). Remember to check our safety best

practices and your local regulation to determine the safe flying altitudes for

your area; we recommend flying under 120 meters (400 feet) at all times.
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(http://3drobotics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/home_altitude1.jpg)

Verifying height (optional)

Check the “Verify Height” option to incorporate topographical data into your

mission plan. This means that if you set a waypoint for 20 meters at a

location where there is a 30-meter hill, Mission Planner will automatically

adjust the waypoint altitude to 50 meters. This will work only for terrain, not

for obstacles like trees or buildings.

Planning Your Mission

Adding a takeoff event (optional)

You can start a mission while the vehicle is already in the air, or you can

add an automatic takeoff event to the beginning of your mission. A takeoff

event has no location information, only altitude. Place a waypoint on the

map, set the waypoint type to TAKEOFF, and specify the altitude (in

meters!) that you would like the aircraft to reach before proceeding to the

next waypoint. For copters, this is as simple as it sounds. For planes, you

will need to configure both a takeoff event and a waypoint that will fly the

plane into the wind.
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(http://3drobotics.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/04/auto_takeoff1.jpg)

Adding waypoints

(http://3drobotics.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/04/waypoints1.jpg)

Waypoints will create the vehicle’s flight path. Click the map to add

waypoints where you want to fly. Each waypoint has a location (longitude

and latitude defined by the placement on the map) and an altitude (in

meters). The altitude will default to your home altitude, but you can input a

custom altitude for each waypoint.

The WP Radius box defines the radius (in meters) of all waypoints in the

mission. The radius of the waypoint determines the size of the waypoint in

three dimensional space and controls how close to the specified location
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the vehicle needs to be before continuing to the next waypoint. The

waypoint radius defaults to two meters; this means that the aircraft needs to

get within two meters of the waypoint before continuing to the next

waypoint.

Waypoint Options

Although waypoints are used as destination markers, they can also be

configured to perform a number of different actions. For example, you can

tell the drone to hover in the air for a certain period of time at a specified

height by selecting LOITER_TIME from the waypoint options list. You also

have other actions like SPLINE_WAYPOINT which curves the flight path and

RETURN_TO_LAUNCH which calls the drone back to the takeoff point.

(http://3drobotics.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/04/configuration_wp.jpg)

Deleting waypoints
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To delete an existing waypoint, right-click on the waypoint pin and select

Delete WP.

(http://3drobotics.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/04/deleting_waypoint.png)

Add a Landing Event

Add a landing event to complete your mission. Add a waypoint where you

want the drone to land, right-click on the new waypoint, and select Land.

Advanced waypoint options (optional)

Ardupilot includes several advanced parameters that allow you to customize

the behavior of the aircraft during missions. To find and change these

parameters, select CONFIG_TUNING, Standard Params, and scroll to the

bottom of the page.

(http://3drobotics.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/04/advanced_waypoints1.jpg)
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Saving, Loading, and Writing Missions

Now that you have your mission planned you can go ahead and save it for

later use by clicking Save WP File. To program the drone with new missions

you must be connected to Mission Planner

(http://3drobotics.com/kb/connecting-mission-planner/), then hit Write

WPs. This will program the drone’s memory to recall these WPs when you

fly the auto-piloted mission.

If you want to load a previously planned mission click Load WP File and find

the file that you saved the mission under. Then upload the mission to the

drone by once hitting Write WPs.

The drone can only hold one mission at a time, so whenever you write a

mission to the drone it will replace whatever mission used to be there.

Whenever you are unsure about which mission is currently in use hit Read

WPs. This will pull up the WPs of the current mission.

Mission Planning Best Practices
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Environmental Awareness

Determine the boundaries of the safe flying area, and be prepared to

recover the copter manually if it goes outside this area. Be aware of any

risks at your location, including bodies of water, structures, trees, etc.

Designate a few areas as safety zones where you can safely land the copter

in case of an unsafe situation.

 

Radio Signal Conditions

Flying behind solid objects, like buildings and trees, blocks radio signals.

Always maintain visual contact with the copter to ensure that the radio

signal is unobstructed. Radio towers, cell phone towers, and nearby WiFi

signals can also cause interference with the radio system and decrease its

range. Avoid flying in populated areas to avoid sources of interference.

 

Altitude

Select an appropriate altitude for your flying location and local regulations.

Your drone cannot avoid obstacles during a mission; it completes the

mission as planned. Select altitudes that avoid any obstacles, such as trees,

buildings, and other tall structures.

 

Power Management

As the operator, it is your responsibility to ensure that all missions comply

within your drone’s operating limits, including flight time. Don’t forget to

take into account the effect of current wind conditions and attached

accessories on power consumption.

 

Regaining Manual Control

During a mission, keep the controller easily accessible, and be prepared to

regain manual control at any time. To regain manual control during the

mission, switch to standard mode using the controller. If your drone’s flight
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behavior becomes unstable or if the copter moves outside your designated

safe flying area, switch to RTL. Turning off the controller automatically

triggers an RTL and can be used in an emergency situation as a hard recall

command.

Great, now that we have that handled, it’s time to fly!

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