Side panel (GCS controls)
The arrow on the right edge of the screen (▶ / ◀) slides out a panel of controls that are needed less often than the command bar. It starts closed; click the arrow again to close it. Each section folds on a click on its title (▼), so you can keep open only what you use.
| Section | What it is for |
|---|---|
| VEHICLE | what is connected |
| ACTIONS | set home here, reboot the autopilot |
| MISSION | mission progress |
| GCS OPTIONS | mute the GCS, ADS-B traffic, rotor load, clear the trail |
| RTL OPTIONS | return-to-launch and Smart RTL parameters |
| TARGET | a reference point to fly to, with an arrow and a distance |
| MESSAGE LOG | every autopilot message of the session |
| LOG REPLAY | replay a .tlog or .bin flight log |
VEHICLE
| TYPE | The vehicle family from its heartbeat: Copter (multirotors and helicopters), Plane (fixed wing and VTOL), Rover (rovers and boats) or Sub |
| SYS ID | Its MAVLink system ID (1 unless changed with SYSID_THISMAV) |
| FW | The firmware version it reports |
-- everywhere means no vehicle is connected.
ACTIONS
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| SET HOME | After a confirmation, makes the vehicle’s current position its new home (MAV_CMD_DO_SET_HOME): RTL and the relative altitudes then refer to it. The autopilot needs a 3D GPS fix and a healthy EKF; if it refuses, the reason is shown. Useful when the vehicle was armed somewhere else than where it should return, e.g. a boat launched from a pier. |
| REBOOT FC | After a confirmation, reboots the autopilot (MAV_CMD_PREFLIGHT_REBOOT_SHUTDOWN) — needed after some parameter changes (a new frame, a serial port protocol, a calibration that asks for it). Greyed out while armed. The link drops and comes back when the autopilot has restarted. |
MISSION
| READ MISSION | Asks the autopilot for its mission list (MISSION_REQUEST_LIST). To download the mission into the editor and see it on the map and in 3D, use READ on the FLIGHT PLAN tab. |
| WPT | Active mission item / number of items, as the autopilot reports them (MISSION_CURRENT) — the same as WP in the command bar. |
GCS OPTIONS
| Option | Default | |
|---|---|---|
| MUTE GCS OUTPUT | off | Stops everything the GCS sends to the vehicle: heartbeats, commands, mode changes, parameter writes, joystick RC override, RTK corrections, mission uploads. The GCS keeps receiving and displaying. For listening in on a vehicle flown by another ground station without interfering, or for replaying a link. The HUD says GCS output MUTED — no messages will be sent. It is remembered between sessions: if buttons seem to do nothing, check here first. Note that with the output muted the vehicle sees no GCS heartbeat, which can trigger its GCS failsafe if one is configured. |
| SHOW ADS-B TRAFFIC | on | Manned-aircraft traffic in the 3D view, on the mini-map and in the traffic table. The same switch as SYS CONFIG → GCS OPTIONS → ADS-B TRAFFIC. See ADS-B traffic. |
| SHOW ROTOR LOAD | on | The rotor load schematic at the bottom right. The same switch as SYS CONFIG → ROTOR LOAD → SCHEMATIC. See rotor load. |
| EKF STATUS | off | A black bar down the left side of the flight view with three charts of the estimator’s last 20 s; the view moves right to make room. Different charts for an ArduPilot EKF3 and a CORV board. Remembered between sessions. See EKF status. |
| LTE OVERLAY | on | The LTE cell rows of the position panel, on the cellular link. The cell sites on the maps have their own switch in CELLULAR LINK. See LTE cells. |
| CLEAR TRAIL | Erases the red trail of the path flown, in 3D and on the mini-map; it starts again from the current position. |
RTL OPTIONS
The parameters that decide how the vehicle comes home, in user units (the GCS converts to the centimetres ArduPilot stores):
| Field | Parameter | |
|---|---|---|
| RTL ALT (m) | RTL_ALT | Height above home the vehicle climbs to (if lower) before flying back. 0 = return at the current height. |
| RTL ALT FINAL (m) | RTL_ALT_FINAL | Height it descends to over home at the end: 0 = land; above 0 = hover there. |
| RTL SPEED (m/s) | RTL_SPEED | Horizontal speed on the way back; 0 = the waypoint speed (WPNAV_SPEED). |
| SRTL POINTS | SRTL_POINTS | Smart RTL: how many points of the path flown the vehicle remembers to retrace (0 disables Smart RTL; needs a reboot). |
| SRTL ACCURACY (m) | SRTL_ACCURACY | Smart RTL: how closely the remembered path follows the real one. |
READ FROM VEHICLE fills the fields from the parameters the GCS already holds — load them first with READ ALL (or READ LISTED) on SETUP → PARAMETERS. WRITE TO VEHICLE sends only the fields you changed. These are Copter parameter names; ArduPilot: RTL mode, Smart RTL.
TARGET
A point of reference for the pilot — a person to reach, a landing spot, the boat to return to.
- Type its LAT and LON in decimal degrees (e.g.
45.60319,10.67127). - Press SET TARGET.
The target then appears as a red pole with a sphere and a ring in the 3D view and as a red dot on the mini-map, and the command bar shows a red arrow pointing to it relative to the vehicle’s nose (straight up = dead ahead) with the distance (m, or km beyond 1 km). CLEAR removes it.
The target is a display aid only: nothing is sent to the vehicle. To make the vehicle fly there, plan a waypoint on it in FLIGHT PLAN, or fly there yourself following the arrow.
MESSAGE LOG
Every text message the autopilot sent in the session (STATUSTEXT), oldest first, scrolled to the newest: errors prefixed [ERR], warnings [WRN]. The same messages appear briefly over the HUD; here they stay, so a pre-arm failure or a calibration result can be read again. Select and copy the text to paste it elsewhere. The full log, including the GCS’s own events, is also in the debug log.
LOG REPLAY
Shown while no vehicle is connected.
- OPEN LOG FILE… and choose an ArduPilot telemetry log (
.tlog, written by any GCS — the GCS’s own are indata/logs) or a DataFlash log (.bin, from the autopilot’s SD card). - The panel shows FILE, FORMAT, DUR (duration) and MSGS (messages); the flight screen behaves as if the vehicle were connected: HUD, 3D, mini-map, annunciators, the mission.
- The REPLAY timeline at the bottom right: ▶ play / ❚❚ pause, the time elapsed, the scrubber to jump anywhere, the total time, × to unload.
- UNLOAD (or ×) ends the replay.
Replay works in the relative navigation mode too: a ROV dive without GPS replays with its dead-reckoned position (navigation without GPS). ArduPilot’s logs page explains the two kinds of log.