One of the most commonly-used features in pro UAVs is point-and-click mission control in real time. Rather than just pre-planned missions or manually flying the UAV, operators can just click on a map and say "go here now".
Good news: we've now implemented this in APM. If you update to the latest Mission Planner and APM code, you can right-click on the map in the GCS and just select "Fly To Here". The UAV will fly there and loiter until you give it another command. We call this "Guided Mode". There are more commands coming in this mode soon, but the functionality is now built-in.
We'll be implementing this in ArduCopter 2 before it comes out of beta, too. Go Guided Mode!
[UPDATE] Team leader Doug Weibel explains how it works:
"Guided is a separate flight mode. If you enter it you will remain in it until you do something to change modes. So if you tell it to "go here now", once it arrives there it will loiter at the Guided waypoint till you tell it to do something else. Something else could either be going to another Guided waypoint (staying in Guided mode) or changing to some other flight mode. If you change to Auto your mission will resume where it left off."
Comments
I see that in setup now, I see I can use the rc_1 in and rc_2 in to control each motor individually. That works. Mine is a bit more direct and I don't have to worry about radio setup and channels being reversed and so on. But I'll try it. Thanks!
Chris, thanks for the comment. As for the test for motor wiring, did you try the CLI test "Motors"? That's supposed to do the same thing and it's built right into to ArduCopter.
Beautiful app. I downloaded your source and made a few changes so that I could use it to install custom firmware.hex built from my copy of the Arduino code, having a "Custom" button on the firmware page would be nice. I also added some safety logic to the test.pde so that folks don't accidentally run tests that ramp up the power full speed. I trashed my first quadrocopter running "test_current", so it would be nice if it started with this warning:
Serial.printf("CAUTION: Remove propellors or tie down your quadrocopter before running this test.");
Serial.printf("Press ENTER to continue...");
serial_read_line();
I also added a new test which is a handy way to see if the motor wiring is correct. This helped debug a problem with my new quad:
static int8_t
test_motor(uint8_t argc, const Menu::arg *argv)
{
int one = g.rc_3.radio_min;
int two = g.rc_3.radio_min;
int three = g.rc_3.radio_min;
int four = g.rc_3.radio_min;
if (argc == 0)
{
Serial.printf("usage: motor [1|2|3|4|off]");
}
else
{
Serial.printf("CAUTION: Remove propellors or tie down your quadrocopter before running this test.");
Serial.printf("Press ENTER to continue...");
serial_read_line();
int minPower = g.rc_3.radio_min + 100;
if(argv[1].i > 0 && argv[1].i <= 4)
{
if (argv[1].i == 1)
{
one = minPower;
}
else if (argv[1].i == 2)
{
two = minPower;
}
else if (argv[1].i == 3)
{
three = minPower;
}
else if (argv[1].i == 4)
{
four = minPower;
}
}
}
Serial.printf("Sending power levels 1=%d, 2=%d, 3=%d, 4=%d\n", one, two, three, four);
APM_RC.OutputCh(CH_1, one);
APM_RC.OutputCh(CH_2, two);
APM_RC.OutputCh(CH_3, three);
APM_RC.OutputCh(CH_4, four);
Serial.printf("Press ENTER to stop...");
serial_read_line();
APM_RC.OutputCh(CH_1, 0);
APM_RC.OutputCh(CH_2, 0);
APM_RC.OutputCh(CH_3, 0);
APM_RC.OutputCh(CH_4, 0);
}
I'd be glad to check these in if you want to give me permission to do so. You can reach me at chris at lovettsoftware.com.
The current images of the Planner on this thread and the Wiki show the dials and the WP details on the top portion
The latest version of the Planner has them in tabs on the left below the HUD. Can this be changed from some config option or should I need to change the page layout from source?
Chris, when in the top caption you said "If you change to Auto your mission will resume where it left off" can you please explain:
1. How does one switch back to Auto Mode after being in guided mode?
2. Where exactly will the mission resume from - does it go back to the last way-point visited or does it fly from the present position to the next way-point?
I support Johann's suggestion to have the wiki updated with the commands and also to keep it updated with the current set of functions as sometimes it is very difficult to follow what is the current function set from one place.
At the same time I appreciate you are all very busy with the developing new functionality.
Also I was just checking out an suasnews link and downloaded the PDF for Adaptive Flight's Horney electric heli:
www.adaptiveflight.com/docs/HornetUAS.pdf
On the 3rd page they have a picture of their GS, with the camera view and on the overhead map, they include the aircraft direction and FOV (field of view) based on compass data. It would be cool to have that functionality as well!
Would it be possible to add a script to follow a 'real-time-updated' gps coordinate?
IE: If I have a GPS tracker data stream input to my laptop, can the Planner have a 'follow' mode for that stream?
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