How to operate GCS
In this section you will get familiar with GCS application, its interface and possibilities it offers.
You might not see all features described in this section when you turn on your GCS. Some features are available only when you are connected to the UAV.
GCS interface
Following subsections describe most important windows that you as user will use. Following table describes main interfaces, that you can use:
Fly view
Command and monitor your vehicle while flying.
Plan view
Plan autonomous missions.
Vehicle Setup
An overview of all the important setup options for your vehicle.
Analyze Tools
Multiple analyze tools (for advanced users)
Application Settings
General GCS app settings
Fly View
After turning on GCS, Fly view is your first screen you encounter.
The Fly View is used to command and monitor the vehicle when flying. Typically it is used for following:
Run an automated pre-flight checklist.
Arm the vehicle (or check why it won’t arm).
Control missions: start, continue, pause, and resume.
Guide the vehicle to arm/disarm/emergency stop, takeoff/land, change altitude, go to or orbit a particular location, and return/RTL.
Switch between a map view and a video view (if available)
Display video, mission, telemetry, and other information for the current vehicle, and also switch between connected vehicles.
( 1 ) Video stream - Displays video stream from your vehicle.
( 2 ) Main toolbar - Fly tools for controlling your vehicle. May expand with multiple options depending on the situation.
( 3 ) Top toolbar - Key status information about UAV.
( 4 ) Camera control - Contains Zoom rate information, and controlling buttons for taking pictures, recording video, switching camera modes.
( 5 ) Vehicle telemetry - Displays (from top to bottom) horizontal speed, vertical speed, altitude (relative to launch point), flown distance, direct distance from launch point, temperature around vehicle.
( 6 ) Compass - Shows heading relative to Earth's North.
( 1 ) Fly view / Plan view - switching between Fly view and Plan view.
( 2 ) Land / Takeoff - Commands vehicle to Land / Takeoff. These actions need to be confirmed by swiping slider.
( 3 ) Return - Commands vehicle to return to its launch point.
( 4 ) Pause / Action - Pauses / Starts mission or action.
( 1 ) Settings menu - click to open Settings menu.
( 2 ) Vehicle status - Displays sensor status when clicking on it.
( 3 ) Flight mode - Can be manually changed by clicking on it.
( 4 ) Device status - Displays overall status of GCS and vehicle. Shows critical errors.
( 5 ) Vehicle battery status.
( 6 ) GCS battery status.
( 7 ) Signal strength.
( 8 ) GPS status (number of sattelites connected).
( 9 ) ROI (Region of Interest).
Plan View
The Plan View is used to plan autonomous missions for your vehicle, and upload them to the vehicle. Once the mission is planned and sent to the vehicle, you switch to the Fly View to fly the mission. It is also use to configure the GeoFence and Rally Points if these are supported by the firmware.
( 1 ) Plan toolbar - Used to create and manage missions.
( 2 ) Top bar - Displays selected waypoint and Mission information.
( 3 ) Mission command list / Overlay - Displays the current list of mission items (select items to edit).
( 4 ) Terrain altitude overlay - Shows the relative altitude of each mission command.
Settings
Following section describes Settings options in GCS. To open settings menu, click Airvolute logo in the upper left corner of the screen. Following window with three options will appear in the middle of the screen:
Vehicle Setup
To the left of the screen are the set of available setup options.
A setup button is marked with a red icon if there are still settings needed to be adjusted/specified. Do not fly if any of these are red!
In the table below you can find description of each menu option in Vehicle Setup.
Summary
An overview of all the important setup options for your vehicle.
Firmware
Flash new firmware onto your vehicle.
Joystick
Enables users to control a drone and configure joystick settings
Airframe
Specify the airframe type for the vehicle.
Radio
Calibrate your Radio Control Transmitter.
Sensors
Calibrate the sensors on the vehicle.
Flight Modes
Used to assign flight modes to your RC Transmitter switches.
Power
Battery settings and additional power options such as ESC calibration.
Motors
Motors testing and setup.
Safety
Specify settings for options related to Safety such as Return to Home or Failsafes.
Tuning
Tune flight characteristics of the vehicle.
Camera
Configure settings for camera and gimbal.
Parameters
Allows you to modify all parameters associated with your vehicle.
Application settings
You can switch between the various settings options by clicking the buttons in the left-sidebar.
You do not have to have a vehicle connected to change these values.
General
The main application configuration settings. These are used to specify: display units, autoconnection devices, video display and storage, RTK GPS, etc.
Comm Links
Allows you to manually create communication links and connect to them. Keep in mind that normally this is not needed since QGroundControl will automatically connect to the most common devices.
Offline Maps
Allows you to cache maps for use while you have no Internet connection.
MAVLink
Settings associated with the MAVLink connection to a vehicle.
Console
Used to capture application logs for help with diagnosing application problems.
Last updated