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Note:

Telemetry logs (also known as “tlogs”) are recorded by the Mission Planner (or other ground

station) when you connect ArduPilot to your computer via a telemetry link. This topic explains

how to configure and access tlogs.

Dataflash logs collect similar information to tlogs (see Diagnosing problems using Logs for

more information).

Contents [hide]

1 When and where tlogs are created

2 Setting the datarate

3 Playing back missions

4 Creating 3d images of the flight path

5 Extracting parameters and Waypoints

6 Graphing data from a flight

7 Video overview of tlogs

When and where tlogs are created

Tlogs are recordings of the MAVLink telemetry messages sent between the APM/PX and the

groundstation and are automatically created the moment you press the connect button on the

mission planner. Files of the format YYYY-MM-DD hh-mm-ss.tlog appear in the “logs”

subfolder in your Mission Planner installation folder or to the location you select in the Planner

options [Config/Tuning] [Planner].

ArduPilot > Mission Planner > common-Mission Planner Telemetry Logs

Mission Planner Telemetry Logs

Mission Planner

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Besides the “.tlog” files, “.rlog” files are also created. These contain all the .tlog data plus

additional debug output from the mission planner. but cannot be parsed or played back so they

should be ignored.

Setting the datarate

The desired rate at which data is sent from the APM/PX to the ground station can be controlled

through the mission planner’s Software > Planner screen’s Telemetry drop-downs. Because all

data sent over the telemetry link is also recorded in the tlog, this also controls the rate of data

saved to the tlogs.

Note that especially on Copter, due to CPU resource limitations, the actual rate of the data sent

and saved may be lower than the rate requested.

Playing back missions

If you are using wireless telemetry and have connected to to APM via the Mission Planner, your

flight data will automatically recorded. You can play back these logs by doing the following:
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Open the mission planner’s Flight Data screen

click on the Telemetry Logs tab

Press “Load Log” and find the flight’s tlog file

Press “Play”

You can also jump to the point of interest in the log using the slider and control the speed of the

playback with the predefined Speed buttons.

While the log is replaying, the HUD will move and the vehicles location on the map will update

as it did during the flight. Individual data values can be seen through the Status tab and you

can even display them in a graph by clicking on the “Tuning” checkbox under the map and then

double clicking on the data legend to bring up a box from which you can choose exactly which

data fields are graphed as shown below. This will show the recorded data changing as the

flight progresses.
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Creating 3d images of the flight path

You can create KMZ files by doing this:

Open the mission planner’s Flight Data screen

Click on the Telemetry Logs tab

Press the “Tlog > Kml or Graph” button

Press the “Create KML + GPX” button

select the flight tlog
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A .kmz and .kml file will be created along side the original .tlog and this can be opened in

google earth to interactively view the 3d flight path. You can open the kmz file in Google Earth

to view the flight or path. Just double click the file or drag it and drop into Google Earth.
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The different flight modes used during the flight will appear as different colored tracks. You can

change some details about how the flight paths are displayed including their color and whether

the paths extend to the ground by doing this:

Find the log file’s name in the “Places” pane on the left. It should appear in a “Temporary

Places” folder.

Right click on an individual path and select “Properties” to open the Edit Path window.

The color can be changed on the “Style, Color” tab

The area below the path can be removed (added) on the “Altitude” tab by un-checking

(checking) “Extend path to ground”

Extracting parameters and Waypoints
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You can extract the parameters and waypoints from the tlog by following the same steps as for

creating the KML file except that at the last step select “Extract Params” or “Extract WPs”.

Extract Params will cause a .param file to be created along side the tlog. This file is tab

separated and contains a full list of parameters (in the same order as they appear in the

eeprom) along with their values during the flight. This can be opened in excel or a text editor.

Extract WPs will create one or more .txt files containing any missions uploaded to the

APM/PX4. These files can be opened in the Mission Planner by switching to the Flight Plan

screen, right-mouse-button clicking on the map and selecting “File Load/Save”, “Load WP File”.

Graphing data from a flight

Data from the flight can be graphed by doing the following:

Open the mission planner’s Flight Data screen

Click on the Telemetry Logs tab

Press the “Tlog > Kml or Graph” button

Press the “Graph Log” button

select the flight tlog
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When the “Graph This” screen appears, use the left or right mouse button to click on the

checkboxes beside the items you wish to graph. Note that the items are grouped into

categories like “RC_CHANNELS” and “RAW_IMU” although it’s still often difficult to find

exactly the item you wish to graph

If you use the left mouse button the scale for the item will appear on the left of the graph. If

you use the right mouse button it will appear on the right

Click the checkbox multiple times to cycle through all the possible colours

Change the zoom of the graph with your mouse’s middle wheel, by select an area of the

graph with the left mouse button held down or by right-mouse-button clicking on the graph

and selecting “Set Scale To Default”
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Video overview of tlogs

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