The DeltaQuad EVO uses Auterion Mission Control (AMC) as its primary Ground Control Station (GCS). The Ground Control Station consists of buttons and has been optimized for use with touchscreen devices.
If you have ordered a Ground Control Station with your DeltaQuad EVO it will have been installed and tested before it was shipped to you.
To install Auterion Mission Control on a separate device such as a laptop or desktop computer, please refer to the Auterion Mission Control Installation Manual. After a successful installation make sure to follow the First Steps.
When starting Auterion Mission Control by default the Fly View will be selected.
Auterion Mission Control offers two main views. In the Fly View, you execute and monitor missions. The Plan View is used to plan autonomous missions for your vehicle. Once the mission is planned and uploaded to the DeltaQuad EVO, you switch to the Fly View to perform the Pre-flight checks and execute the mission.
The application drop-down menu will open. The blue colored tab is the active view. To switch to the other view simply click on the respective tab.
The following two chapters will explain in detail the layout of the Fly View and the Plan View.
The application menu has four more tabs to choose from.
You can switch between the two views by clicking on the Menu Icon .
| Tab | View | Description |
|---|---|---|
There are two modes Auterion Mission Control can run in. The Normal mode and the Advanced mode. When tapping five times on the Menu icon a pop-up window will appear with the option to switch to Advanced mode.
When the Advanced mode is enabled the Menu icon is black.
When the Normal mode is enabled the Menu icon is orange.
In Advanced mode, more options are available. For example, the Analyse tab in the Auterion Mission Control menu will become available, or the VTOL Transition distance can only be changed when operating in Advanced mode.
When Advanced mode is enabled tapping five times on the Menu icon will open a pop-up window with the option to switch to Normal mode.
Vehicle Setup
Vehicle configuration, including sensor calibration and safety actions.
Photos
View photos and videos downloaded from the vehicle.
User Acount
Login or logout of Auterion account. This associates pilots with flights on Auterion Suite.
Settings
Application Settings
In the Fly View, missions are executed and monitored. The operator has two layouts available. By default, the map is the primary view and the video feed is the secondary view. You can change the layout by clicking the small window in the lower left corner.
Primary view - map, secondary view - video feed:
Primary view - video feed, secondary view - map view:
The smaller secondary window in the lower left corner can be resized by clicking the two arrows in the upper right corner. Simply drag the window to the desired size.
The following is a complete list of actions that can be taken within the secondary window.
Minimize or maximize the window
Adjust the size of the window
Detach the window from the lower left corner
Depending on whether the map or the video feed is the primary view, the available tools, and functions change. When the map is the primary view, all Fly Tools are available. When the video feed is the primary view the payload controls are available.
Map is the primary view: Video is the primary view:
All Fly Tools are available Payload controls are available
The available payload controls depend on the mounted payload. The payload controls will be discussed separately in the dedicated section for each available payload.
The following list describes all elements of the Fly View.
AMC Menu
Vehicle Status and Selector
Flight Mode
Emergency Actions and Arm Status
GPS Status
Radio Signal Strength
LTE Status and Signal Strength
Battery Status of the Vehicle
Battery Status of the Ground Control Station
Notifications Tab
Telemetry and Compass
Video feed
Map Tools
Flight Tools
Fly View Tools
Estimated flight Time Remaining
Additional information depending on mounted payload
Map, Mission Items, Smart Actions, Vehicle Location (blue arrow), and Vehicle Track (red trail)
The DeltaQuad EVO does not make use of the Connection Manager. In Settings>General>Miscellanous this option can be disabled.
The Telemetry Panel is located in the lower right corner of the screen. It is available in both layouts when the map is the primary view and when the video is the primary view.
Time since armed (approximate flight time)
Distance between vehicle and ground station
Compass (incl. vehicle heading, camera field of view, direction towards the Ground Control Station)
Roll Index
Wind direction and wind speed
Pitch Index
Altitude display - tap the letters above the three dots to change to the different altitude measurements:
Vertical speed
Calibrated airspeed
Ground speed/horizontal speed
The following Fly View Tools are available on the left side of the screen when the map is primary.
These values can be changed in Settings>General>Fly View.
When clicking on the Marker Tool button a menu will open.
Different Marker Tool Categories can be chosen by color and form. Click on the map to set the marker.
To delete a marker, select it on the map and click on Del. Selected in the Marker Tool menu.
The distance between two points can be measured or the area in the form of a selectable polygon. Clear all will delete all Measurement Tools on the map.
Coordinates can be entered manually.
The third item in the upper-left corner of the screen is the Flight Mode icon.
This item displays the vehicle`s current flight mode. When clicked the operator can change to the Position flight mode for manual control.
During operation, the Flight Mode icon can display the following modes.
In the Plan View, you can create, edit and save missions, which can be uploaded to the DeltaQuad EVO. To plan a mission the DeltaQuad EVO does not need to be connected to Auterion Mission Control.
When opening Auterion Mission Control by default the Fly View will be selected. To change to the Plan View Click on the Menu icon in the upper left corner of the screen. A drop-down menu will open. Select the Plan tab.
The image below shows a simple mission that starts with a Start and a Transition Direction item. The mission continues to fly through three waypoints which are followed by a Mission End Action.
The steps for creating missions are:
Change to Plan View.
Add commands to the mission and edit as needed.
Upload the mission to the vehicle.
Change to Fly View and fly your mission.
The following section describes all elements of the Plan View.
The Top menu bar consists of the same elements as the Fly View.
AMC Menu
Vehicle Status and Selector
Flight Mode
Emergency Actions and Arm Status
GPS Status
Radio Signal Strength
LTE Status and Signal Strength
Battery Status of the Vehicle
Battery Status of the Ground Control Station
Notifications Tab
On the left side of the screen, the Plan Tools are located. The Plan Tools provide tools for working with plans, including adding waypoints, inserting survey patterns, saving, loading, uploading, and downloading plans. Some of the options are only displayed when working on a particular type of plan.
Only valid options are enabled (e.g. Download is grayed out if there is no mission on the vehicle).
Storage
Under the top menu bar, the mission statistics are located.
The mission statistics give information about the total mission distance, the maximum telemetry distance, and the total mission time.
The Upload Button uploads the current mission, geofence, and rally points to the vehicle. The button has two states.
At the top right of the screen, the Plan Item Selector is located.
The Plan Item Selector sets the part of the mission plan which is being edited.
The Plan Item Editors are displayed below the Plan Item Selector. Different item editors are displayed for each part of the mission plan:
Start: In this tab, you can edit the values of the Mission Start Action which consists of the Start or takeoff item and the Transition Direction item.
Missions: The mission tab shows a list of editors, one for each item in the mission (waypoint, commands, etc.)
End: In this tab, you can edit the values of the Mission End Action. The Mission End Action can be either a landing pattern that consists of the Orbit and the Land item or only an Orbit item.
Extras: In this tab, you can add or remove GeoFence definitions, and select the current GeoFence region for editing on the map.
The distance between two points can be measured or the area in the form of a selectable polygon. Clear all will delete all Measurement Tools on the map.
Coordinates can be entered manually.
At the bottom of the screen, the Terrain Altitude Indicator is located.
A red line indicates a ground collision!
In the upper left corner of the Terrain Altitude Indicator, you can select between three different altitude measurements.
Simply tap the letters next to the three dots to change to the different altitude measurements:
Above the Measurement Tool and the Toggle button, the Scale Marker is located.
It indicates the scale of the map depending on how much the map is zoomed in or zoomed out.
To use the zoom function the mouse wheel can be used or two fingers when operating on a touchscreen.
When installing Auterion Mission Control on a separate device such as a laptop or desktop pc, by default the Connection Manager will be available in the top bar of Auterion Mission Control.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Symbol | Command | Action |
|---|---|---|
Clicking the Flight Tools button in the lower-left corner of the screen will open an extra set of commands for controlling the vehicle. When the button is blue it is active and the extra set of commands will be visible. When the button is grey it is inactive and the extra commands will be hidden.
| Symbol | Command | Action |
|---|---|---|
When using the Set Altitude command the Altitude Slider will be presented with a fixed Minimum and Maximum Altitude. The operator can choose an altitude between these values.
Clicking the Map Tools button in the lower-left corner of the screen will open the Map Tools. When the button is blue it is active and the extra set of commands will be visible. When the button is grey it is inactive and the extra commands will be hidden.
| Symbol | Command | Action |
|---|---|---|
The Marker Tool can be used to increase situational awareness. The set markers will be also displayed in the video feed.
The Measurement Tool button opens a menu.
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
The File Tool provides options to create a new mission plan, load and save plans on the Ground Control Station, and upload, download, or clear the plan on the vehicle.
| Option | Description |
|---|
| Option | Description |
|---|
Select the Waypoint Tool to enable adding new waypoints to the map.
Select the Point Of Interest (POI) Tool to enable adding a point of interest on the map. The camera gimbal will point toward the last POI created.
Select the Cancel POI Tool to cancel the last point of interest on the map.
Select the Pattern Tool to add or load a survey or corridor pattern. Additionally, a KML/SHP file can be loaded.
The Center Tool gives multiple options to center the map on a mission, home, vehicle, all items, or a specified location.
| Option | Description |
|---|
| Symbol | Name |
|---|
In the lower-left corner, the Measurement Tool is located. When clicking on it a menu will show.
The Terrain Altitude Indicator is used to verify that the mission is set above ground level! It can be toggled visible or hidden using the button next to the Measurement Tool.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|
HGT
Height above takeoff
MSL
Altitude above Mean Sea Level
AGL
Altitude above Ground Level
VTOL Takeoff
Flight mode during takeoff
Mission
Flight mode in which the vehicle executes a planned mission.
Hold
Flight mode when the Hold, Orbit, or Figure of 8 command is given.
Return
Flight mode when executing the Return command.
Land
Flight mode when Landing in the Emergency Actions has been chosen.
Position
Manual flight mode is enabled. The vehicle can be controlled with the right joystick. When there is no stick input the vehicle maintains altitude and course.
Open... | Open a plan file from storage, or clear the current mission in the Ground Control Station. The plan on the vehicle is not affected. |
Save | Save previously opened or saved plans under the same name. AMC prompts to Save as if the file is new. |
Save as... | Save the current plan under a new name. |
Save Mission Waypoints as KML ... | Save the current mission as a KML file. KML files are used by Google Earth. |
Recent Missions | Open a menu of recently created or loaded mission plans. |
Upload | Upload the mission plan to the vehicle. Existing plans on the vehicle are cleared. |
Download | Download the current plan from the vehicle. The current plan on the ground station is cleared. |
Clear | Clear the mission plan on the vehicle and AMC. Disabled if no vehicle is connected. |
Mission | Center or zoom the map to include all mission waypoints. |
All items | Center or zoom the map to include all plan items (missions, geofences, rally points) |
Launch | Center the map at the point where the vehicle arms and takes off. |
Vehicle | Center the map on the vehicle location. Disabled if no vehicle is connected. |
Current Location | Center the map on the location of the Ground Control Station (AMC). Disabled if Ground Control Station does not have location or GPS. |
Specified Location | Center the map on a specified location. Enter geographic, UTM, or MGRS position information, to make it the new map center. |
HGT | Height above takeoff |
MSL | Altitude above Mean Sea Level |
AGL | Altitude above Ground Level |
Takeoff
Command for takeoff - altitude, transition direction, loiter for takeoff, and approach sectors can be set.
Return
Return to the start location - the vehicle will return with the approach feature if at least one green sector is set. If no green sector is available the planned landing pattern will be ues.
Mission
Starts or resumes the planned mission.
Hold
Pauses the mission or any action. The vehicle will loiter at its current location.
Approach
Approach sector and Safe Areas can be modified.
POI
Orbit
Sets an Orbit with selectable altitude, radius, and loiter direction.
Figure of 8
Sets a figure of 8 with selectable figure size, and altitude. The figure of 8 automatically realigns when a POI is set to keep the POI in the field of view.
Change Airspeed
Enables the operator to change airspeed. When clicked the Airspeed slider appears on the right side of the screen. Values between 14m/s to 25m/s are available.
Set Altitude
The altitude of the vehicle can be changed.
Center Map
Centers the map on the vehicle
Marker
Set markers for situational awareness
Clear Path
Delete last flightpath to clear the map
Map Layers
Changes between map layers
Load KML overly
Import KML file to the map
Measure
Opens the Measurement Tools
Upload Required | The mission plan has been changed since the last upload. A new upload is required. |
Upload | The mission plan has not been changed and the vehicle has the latest version stored. It may be re-uploaded anyway. |
Depending on the payload a Point of Interest can be set. The camera will follow the specified location while the vehicle will remain on its flight path. The Point of Interest can be removed by clicking on Disable PIO .
