Mission flight planning?

[GoFaster]

What is the current state of Mission Flight Planning?
I've read in various threads that certain functions and type of parameters are either supported or sort of supported with caveats with the Windows and Android QGC. Relative versus absolute coordinates and altitudes. The ability to send a flight plan to the AQ and/or save/load a flight plan to the microSD card.
Further there appear to be test or interim versions of both Win and AQGC floating around that may address some of these limitations. Thanks for the rapid fixes but it's starting to get hard to keep track of things.
Can someone in the know please give me a current summary of what works and not for v6.6 and the different Win/AQGC versions?
I'd like some clarity so my aircraft doesn't decide to fly underground or into the stratosphere

Also I noticed that v6.6r19 has been committed. I see some changes in the diffs but a somewhat more friendly changelog would be helpful.

Thanks in advance.
- Felix

[joebar.rc]

[GoFaster]

Thanks for the summary Menno. I appreciate it. I'll concentrate on the Android app for now and look forward to the latest release for testing.

Regards,
- Felix

[Wingspinner]

So since source is not available for AQGS widget or the android app (or is it?) it sounds like we must buy an android something to ensure we have something that works right. Is that a fair statement?

[GoFaster]

If I recall correctly, there was a reply sometime ago that the source for one or both would be released. I hope so.

[joebar.rc]

Yes, off course it will be released.
Peter (developer) is on holiday and I'm sure he will release a source version soon.
The android app is in redesign, this version was based on the APM2 GCS, but version 2 is different and more flexible.
I don't know which version he will post, but it probably will be the current release.

And making sure the QGCS can do the same as the android app (regarding missions) is high on his list, he already had contact with the QGCS developer about this matter but timeframes cannot be given at the moment...
A source for the widget is not that useful (although it will probably be posted), that is only for flashing and settings. The QGCS itself is already opensource.

[GoFaster]

Thanks Menno for the info. It appears that Peter is the sole developer of the ground side of things. Publishing the source and specs might help. Is v2 of the Android app currently fully functional, meaning that it's able to do all the things that v1 does? I understand it may have bugs.

Separately, though it is off topic for this thread
Is there a roadmap for the AQ flight software? Functionality that Bill and the core team is working on or planning to in the future?
As more people get on board, I am sure there will be mods/improvements and other changes to the code. A roadmap might reduce duplication of efforts.
I know Bill is the gatekeeper. Is there a philosophy as to what will or will not be accepted into trunk? Branches are good, some will flourish, others will die. But if there are too many, it becomes a tangled mess.

- Felix

[joebar.rc]

[GoFaster]

I get a better big picture now. Thank you for sharing it.

I agree completely, the high precision autonomous flight is what drew my interest to Autoquad ever since Bill started posting videos and posts. Without a solid foundation, all the rest is just along for a bumpy ride.
Perhaps some dev aspects cannot be shared but if Bill could share his guidelines/specs or one paragraph idea of his future vision, it might help others work towards the same general goal.

I do hope that conditions will continue be such that a vibrant development community will thrive. Not just software but support and documentation.
I've said it before but again, thank you and the rest of the team for your time and effort!

- Felix

[Wingspinner]

I'm resurrecting this thread because the questions asked by others about how to write code for AQ are still relevant. For instance, there wasn't any guideline for how to contribute to the QGC, as well, Menno made commens in this thread that the widget code isn't that important since QGC sources are already available (from the QGC repository) and implied that's where we should focus adding value. So I did that. I didn't muck with AQ dev teams code and only concentrated on getting the QGC codebase update and created a Mac version and also an updated Windows version that's more user friendly with self install/uninstall. Later, after the fact it was communicated that AQ team does have a specific requirement to stick with their older version of the QGC sources and therefore appear to be saying what I did will not be accepted. So while the direction seemed very clear apparently policies differ within the team or they changed their mind after I made my version. This isn't a very effective or efficient way to work.

While I'm very thankful for the AQ teams work and committment, based on this situation I know I and some others will be reluctant to submit anything for offical AQ dev team acceptance until the requirements are written up a bit more officially so we don't waste our time. In this case I'm using the Mac version myself so it's not a total loss.

So, GoFaster's request is still valid.

Thanks for all you guys do. The documentation is looking excellent and so many things are coming along so nicely.

Cheers,
Ron