Mission Planning
Overview
The Mission Planning panel lets you create, edit, and upload a full waypoint list to the vehicle.
Supported item types
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Takeoff | Takeoff with target altitude |
| Waypoint | Waypoint with lat/lng/alt |
| Loiter Unlimited | Circle indefinitely over the point |
| Loiter Turns | Circle for N laps |
| Land | Land at the specified point |
| RTL | Return To Launch |
| Survey Grid | Automatic photogrammetry grid |
| Geofence | Polygonal safety perimeter |
Creating a mission
- Click New mission to reset the list
- Click on the map to add waypoints
- Drag markers to reposition them
- Set altitude and parameters in the side panel
Survey (photogrammetry grid)
The Survey function automatically generates flight strips to cover a polygonal area:
- Draw the area polygon by clicking vertices on the map
- Set altitude, side overlap, and frontlap
- Choose the strip angle (0° = North-South)
- Harlock calculates optimized waypoints minimizing turns
Uploading to the vehicle
- Upload — sends the mission to the vehicle via MAVLink (
MISSION_ITEM_INT) - Download — downloads the mission currently stored on the drone
- Clear — clears the mission on the vehicle
warning
Uploading overwrites the mission currently stored on the vehicle. Download first if you want to keep it.
Geofence
The geofence is managed separately from the main mission. Define a polygon on the map and upload it with Fence → Upload. ArduPilot uses the geofence to prevent flight outside the perimeter.
Local saving
Missions can be saved as local drafts (.json). Use File → Save draft and File → Load draft.