Mission Planning
The following instructions are a basic guide to Mission planning in QGC, going over how to create a mission, select mission type, change speed, adjust camera settings and start a mission.
Last updated
The following instructions are a basic guide to Mission planning in QGC, going over how to create a mission, select mission type, change speed, adjust camera settings and start a mission.
Last updated
1
Open QGroundControl and navigate to the Plan tab
Plan tab is indicated by the waypoint symbol on your computer or Herelink Controller, point A to point B
2
Select your desired plan (Point A to Point B icon)
You have the option of:
Blank, Survey, Corridor Scan, and Structure Scan Corridor and Survey are the most commonly used mission types
When a new mission is created, you will see an option for Takeoff appear on your screen indicated by an orange circle T (Fig. 2)
3
Click and drag the Takeoff icon to your desired location on the QGC map display
4
Select 'Done Adjusting’ (Fig. 2 below) to move forward
Once you have created your Takeoff location, you will see the Mission Creation screen with options to create your mission borders and waypoints.
5
On the right side of the screen, navigate to the Mission Start tab
To adjust Waypoint altitude for all mission waypoints
6
Set mission flight speed for calculation of total mission time (Fig. 3 below)
Changing altitude will prompt you to apply the new altitude to all items in the current mission
Survey Basic
Will create a 4 point border box with a series of white lines and an arrow showing the direction and path the vehicle will fly on its automated mission.
Circular
Will create a CenterPoint with a white dot radius to adjust the circle width.
Trace
Will allow you to create border vertices individually
When creating waypoints, pan on map using two fingers to scroll and one to select position of waypoint.
7
Click and drag the points to your desired mission borders and select ‘Done With Polygon’ (Fig. 5) to move forward
You can also upload a KML waypoint file to populate waypoints in QGC
Green Box
Where the drone will survey
White Lines
Flight path
Green circle icon with a waypoint numbering and connecting to the takeoff icon with an orange line with an arrow
The first waypoint the vehicle will travel to
After the first waypoint
White Line with an Arrow
Which direction the vehicle will travel
White Dots
Border Vertex
The Survey tab, on the right side of QGC planning screen, will populate with Grid, Camera and Preset subsection options.
Allows the user to preview the survey area and simulate a mission before execution, providing the opportunity to make any necessary adjustments to the survey plan.
(Manual Camera setting Grid Options)
Altitude
Trigger Distance
Spacing
Transects-Angle
Turnaround Distance
Rotate Entry Point
(Custom/Other Camera setting Grid Options)
Overlap
Altitude
Ground Resolution
Transects-Angle
Turnaround Distance
Rotate Entry Point
IMPORTANT! If Using an Optical Camera Payload
Read through the following steps for setting up the camera options.
Under the Camera subsection there is a selection dropdown (Fig. 8 seen below) with some preset camera options to choose from. In order to properly run your mission, make sure your camera settings are input correctly.
Survey tab > Camera > Manual (No Camera Specs)
Selecting Manual Camera allows you to enter in the survey grid tab: Altitude, Photo Trigger Distance and Line Spacing manually in the Grid subsection (Fig. 10).
Altitude
Mission flight height
Survey units can be changed in application settings
Photo Trigger Distance
How far the drone will fly before the camera is triggered
Smaller values = More images captured
Line Spacing
Distance between each flight path
Manually in the Grid subsection
Survey tab > Camera > Custom Camera
In the Grid subsection, when Custom Camera is selected, allows you to enter:
Photo Front Lap
Photo overlap in the flight direction
Side Lap
Set height manually (or QGC automated)
Altitude Checkbox
Set height manually
Ground Resolution Checkbox
Have QGC calculate the altitude to achieve a specific Ground Resolution
Survey tab > Camera > Known Other Camera (Choose from the pre-programmed list)
The Grid tab options will remain the same as custom known camera Grid options (Fig. 12 above)
Mission > Survey > Grid > Transect Subsection
In the Grid subsection of the survey tab (scroll down) > Transects subsection you will see options for:
Transect Angle
Adjust flight angle of the survey polygon
Turnaround Distance
Control distance beyond the polygon the vehicle will travel when turning around
Rotate Entry Point
Select different vertex waypoint to start the mission
The Options dropdown shows different mission parameters to hover when taking an image (Fig.17 below)
Mission > Survey > Grid > Terrain subsection
1
Enable Terrain Following
2
Downloaded offline maps
Use QGC Basic Guide to download offline maps with elevation data
3
NOW you can use Terrain Following checkbox
Clicking the checkbox enables Terrain Following
Mission > Survey > Grid > Mission Statistics subsection
Mission Statistics are displayed beneath the Terrain dropdown:
Total Survey Area
Estimated Photo Count
Photo Interval
Trigger Distance
Adjust Flight Speed, we need to add a waypoint for the vehicle to travel through to set its speed.
1
Select the Takeoff tab on the right side of the screen under Mission
To add a waypoint between Takeoff and Survey
2
Select the waypoint on the left side of the screen and tap a location on the map between your Takeoff and first mission waypoint.
Here you can:
Set a New Altitude
Tell the vehicle to Hold its position for a duration
Adjust Flight Speed with the checkbox
Delete an unwanted waypoint with the trashcan icon
3
After adding a waypoint with the Flight Speed checkbox (Fig. 20 above), the remainder of the mission will proceed at the selected speed.
To change the default speed, you will need to change the WP_NAV_SPEED parameter, which will remove the need to create a waypoint to change the speed.
1
Using the Purple paper airplane icon, navigate to the main mission QGC screen
2
Select the Vehicle Settings icon
3
Scroll down on the left and select the “Parameters” tab
4
Scroll down again to the “WP” parameters
5
WP_NAV_SPEED can be changed by selecting the value to the right of the parameter name, and changing the value. The units are in centimeters/second, so you will need to convert the speed you need for your mission. (Ex: 600cm/sec = 6m/s = 13.42mph)
IMPORTANT! Parameters Tab
Be aware that all vehicle parameters are accessible within the “Parameters” tab, and some, if changed, can create vehicle instability. Please take caution when changing parameters, and avoid doing so as much as possible.
1
Using the QGC Mission Plan screen below the Purple Paper Airplane Fly icon, select File.
Here you can:
Save a mission to the controller.
Open an existing saved mission
Upload/Download a mission to the vehicle
Clear a mission from the vehicle if there is a need for resetting
Note: If mission does not clean, restart QGC and the Mission Plan will refresh
2
To upload your completed mission, use the Upload button under the File tab or in the top right corner of the screen
The default file type for missions is plan, you can also save as a KML using the 'Save Mission Waypoints as KML' option.
To transfer a mission created on the desktop interface to the vehicle, you will:
1
Connect the computer to the USB-C port on the back of the vehicle or using the Herelink wifi hotspot.
2
Upload the mission to the vehicle using the Upload icon
3
With a mission uploaded to the vehicle, you can now use the download option on the Herelink controller to download the mission from the vehicle to the controller.
With a Mission uploaded, the vehicle will now show a slider to start or continue the mission.
On the left side of the QGC screen, you will see the Action Menu with Land, Return, Pause or Action options that can be selected to trigger one of the autonomous actions.
Land will land the vehicle at its current position.
1
Click on the desired waypoint via the QGC map to bring up the slider to Adjust Current Waypoint
2
Slide to confirm (seen below)
3
Press the Action button to bring up the Continue Mission slider to resume from the selected waypoint
In the (external link) of the Mission tab you will see a selection menu displayed in the top of the Mission planning screen providing different survey mission layouts (Fig. 4)
