Mission Planning

Relevant source files

Mission Planning is a core functionality of Mission Planner that allows users to create, edit, and manage autonomous flight missions for ArduPilot-based vehicles. This system provides a visual interface for placing waypoints on a map, configuring complex command parameters, and synchronizing these instructions with the vehicle's flight controller.

This page focuses on the high-level technical implementation of the mission planning system. For detailed information on specific subsystems, refer to the child pages linked below.

Mission Planning System Overview

The mission planning system is primarily hosted within the FlightPlanner view GCSViews/FlightPlanner.cs60-61 It integrates geographic data via GMapControl ExtLibs/GMap.NET.WindowsForms/GMap.NET.WindowsForms/GMapControl.cs36-40 with mission logic encapsulated in the locationwp structure ExtLibs/Utilities/locationwp.cs11-15

Title: Mission Planning Flow

Sources: GCSViews/FlightPlanner.cs60-150 ExtLibs/Maps/WPOverlay.cs15-28 ExtLibs/Utilities/locationwp.cs11-33

Core Components

The system relies on several specialized classes to bridge the gap between UI interactions and MAVLink protocol requirements.

Title: Mission Planning Class Relationships

Sources: GCSViews/FlightPlanner.cs130-146 ExtLibs/Maps/WPOverlay.cs15-40 ExtLibs/Utilities/locationwp.cs11-209 ExtLibs/ArduPilot/mav_mission.cs10-15

Waypoint Management

The locationwp struct is the primary data container for mission items, mirroring the MAVLink mission item structure ExtLibs/Utilities/locationwp.cs11-209 Visual representation on the map is handled by WPOverlay, which converts these logic items into GMapMarker and GMapRoute objects for the GMapControl ExtLibs/Maps/WPOverlay.cs28-110

For details, see Waypoint Management.

Grid and Survey Planning

Automated mission generation for photogrammetry and mapping is handled through specialized grid tools. These tools calculate camera footprints and overlap to generate optimal flight paths GCSViews/FlightPlanner.cs13-15

For details, see Grid/Survey Planning.

MAVLink Commands and Logic

Missions are structured as a sequence of MAV_CMD definitions. Mission Planner uses mavcmd.xml to define the human-readable parameters (P1-P4, Lat, Lng, Alt) for each command type, ensuring the UI displays relevant fields for commands like WAYPOINT, LOITER_TIME, or DO_SET_SERVO mavcmd.xml4-150

Command	Purpose	Key Parameters
`WAYPOINT`	Standard navigation	Delay mavcmd.xml7 Alt mavcmd.xml13
`LOITER_TURNS`	Circle a point	Turns mavcmd.xml88 Radius mavcmd.xml90
`DO_JUMP`	Mission looping	WP Index mavcmd.xml277 Repeat Count mavcmd.xml278

For details, see MAVLink Commands.

Synchronization and Safety

Vehicle Communication

Missions are synchronized via the mav_mission class ExtLibs/ArduPilot/mav_mission.cs10-15

Download: The GCS requests the mission count and then retrieves each sequence number ExtLibs/ArduPilot/mav_mission.cs14-48
Upload: The GCS sends the count and pushes locationwp items, handling retries and sequence validation ExtLibs/ArduPilot/mav_mission.cs65-111

Geofencing and Terrain

Safety is enforced through multiple layers:

Geofencing: Managed via the Fence class, supporting polygonal inclusion and exclusion zones ExtLibs/ArduPilot/Fence.cs9-15
Terrain Following: Uses SRTM and other elevation data sources to adjust waypoint altitudes relative to the ground GCSViews/FlightPlanner.cs102-103

Sources: ExtLibs/ArduPilot/mav_mission.cs10-150 ExtLibs/ArduPilot/Fence.cs9-88 GCSViews/FlightPlanner.cs102-110

File Operations

Mission Planner supports standard ArduPilot mission formats:

.waypoints: Legacy tab-separated format ExtLibs/Utilities/MissionFile.cs18-20
.plan: Modern JSON-based format for cross-platform compatibility ExtLibs/Utilities/MissionFile.cs86-90

Sources: ExtLibs/Utilities/MissionFile.cs14-104

Mission Planning

Relevant source files

This page focuses on the high-level technical implementation of the mission planning system. For detailed information on specific subsystems, refer to the child pages linked below.