Introduction to Mission Planner SITL Simulation with SIMNET

Mission Planner is a powerful, open-source ground control software used to operate and monitor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including drones. It supports real-time control, mission planning, firmware updates, live telemetry, and flight log analysis. Designed for compatibility with a wide range of UAV platforms, Mission Planner features a user-friendly interface suitable for both beginners and advanced users. It is the most widely used ground control software for the ArduPilot platform.

This tutorial provides a basic introduction to using Mission Planner for planning and executing autonomous simulations within SIMNET. For a deeper dive into its full capabilities, see the official documentation.

Installing Mission Planner

Mission Planner runs on the Windows, Linux and Android operating systems. Follow the instructions below to install the software on your platform of choice.  Note that you may run Mission Planner on any internet-connected device, and it does not need to be the same computer you will use for SIMNET.

Mission Planner Installation Instructions

Connecting Mission Planner to SIMNET

Connecting Mission Planner to the SIMNET is a very simple process:

1) Click on SIMNET's 'Ground Control Station' toolbar button (1) to obtain the IP and port for that session (2).  You may click on the IP to copy it. If this information is not shown, it means the currently loaded aircraft is not configured for SITL simulation. Load an aircraft that has 'ArduPilot' in its name and try again.

2) Open Mission Planner, and use the toolbar dropdowns to select TCP connection (3) with baud rate 111100 (4) and click on connect (5).

3) Finally, enter the IP and port provided by SIMNET in dialog (6) to connect. You should see Mission Planner display the aircraft in its current location. You are ready to start using Mission Planner as if it were connected to a real vehicle.

Using Mission Planner

Flight Plan Screen

The Flight Plan is where you will plan and program the autonomous mission.  You can enter this screen by clicking on the PLAN button (1) on the toolbar.  Here you will see a map of the flight location (2) with an icon indicating the vehicle's takeoff position (3).  You can click on the map to place waypoints (4), and you may also drag these around to fine-tune their position.  As will be discussed later in the course, you can right-click on the map to open a menu with additional tools, including tools do determine local terrain elevation.  The waypoint list (5) shows all of the waypoints and allows you to view and edit their parameters.  Mainly, these consist of selecting the mission command type for that waypoint, entering the waypoint altitude, and reference frame for the altitude.  You may also use this table to enter waypoint latitudes and longitudes manually, as well as to delete or change the order of waypoints.  Finally, the menu on the right (6) allows you to save and load mission plans to files, as well as upload or download the mission plan to the vehicle using the Write/Read buttons respectively.  Note that any changes to the flight plan will not be reflected on the vehicle until you click on the Write button to send the mission plan to the vehicle.  

Flight Data Screen

The Flight Data screen allows you to monitor and track the vehicle's state in real-time during flight.  This screen also allows you to control things such as arming/disarming the aircraft and selecting its current flight mode.

You can enter the Flight Data screen by clicking on the DATA button (1) on the toolbar.   Here you will see three main displays: the Heads Up Display (HUD) (2), the map view (3), and the control menu (4).

The map view shows critical data such as the current location and heading of the aircraft (5), the mission plan waypoints (6) connected with yellow lines and arrows to indicate the planned flight path, and the actual flight path that has been followed by the aircraft so far in purple (7).  You will see three lines extending from the aircraft icon (8).  As indicated by the legend found on the bottom left of the map, the orange line points directly at the next waypoint, while the red line indicates the current heading of the aircraft.  The black line indicates the direction the aircraft is currently traveling (or GPS Track).

The control menu (4) has many different tabs, each one providing a different set of data or control interfaces.  The most important tab is the 'Actions' tab.  Here we can find a dropdown that allows us to change the aircraft's flight mode, a button to arm and disarm the aircraft, and buttons to activate the Auto, Loiter and RTL flight modes.  There are other buttons and interfaces, but these are the most commonly used features of this menu.

HUD Display

The HUD display shown within the Flight Data screen is an important tool that provides you with all the critical information about the aircraft at a glimpse.  It is important for pilots to get familiarized with how to read this display.

The main feature of the HUD is what is called the 'artificial horizon'.  It is an animation of how the ground (green) and sky (blue) would look if you were sitting in the aircraft's cockpit.  By looking at the orientation of the horizon, you can instantly get a sense of the pitch and roll angle of the aircraft in the air.  If you want more precise readings, you can look at the roll angle reading dial (1), and the pitch angle lines (2).  For example, in this picture, the aircraft is banking left around 5 degrees and pitching down around 5 degrees.  You can also see the aircraft's heading dial (3).  Here a reading of 0 means the aircraft is pointing North, 90 East, 180 South, and 270 West.

The HUD also provides readings for the aircraft's groundspeed (4) and airspeed (5), altitude (6), the current flight mode being used (7), GPS time (8), and telemetry link connection quality (9).