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Join the Community

ADOS is built by a small team and a growing community of drone builders, pilots, researchers, and developers. Here is where to find us.

Discord

The primary community channel. This is where most day-to-day conversation happens. discord.gg/uxbvuD4d5q

Channels

ChannelWhat It Is For
#generalIntroductions, general discussion, sharing your builds
#mission-controlGCS questions, feature requests, bug reports
#drone-agentAgent installation, configuration, debugging
#ground-stationGround station setup, WFB-ng, video link
#developmentContributing, architecture discussion, PR reviews
#show-and-tellShare photos, videos, and flight logs from your ADOS-powered drones
#helpStuck on something? Ask here. No question is too basic.

When to Use Discord

  • Quick questions (“How do I change the survey altitude?”)
  • Debugging help (“My agent won’t detect the FC, here are the logs”)
  • Feature discussion (“Would it make sense to add X?”)
  • Sharing builds and flight reports
  • Getting feedback on a PR before submitting

GitHub

The source of truth for code and issues.

ADOS Mission Control

Browser-based GCS. Star the repo if you find it useful.

ADOS Drone Agent

Companion computer agent. Star the repo if you find it useful.

When to Use GitHub Issues

  • Bug reports with steps to reproduce
  • Feature requests with a clear use case
  • Documentation issues (something wrong or missing in the docs)
  • Questions that need code-level answers (e.g., “Is MISSION_ITEM_INT used for rally point upload?”)

Issue Templates

Both repos have issue templates. Please use them. A good bug report includes:
  1. What you expected to happen
  2. What actually happened (include error messages, screenshots, or logs)
  3. Steps to reproduce (numbered, specific)
  4. Environment (OS, browser, FC firmware, agent version, board model)
A vague “it doesn’t work” is hard to act on. A specific “clicking Arm on ArduPilot Copter 4.5.7 over WebSerial on Chrome 124 shows ‘PreArm: Need 3D Fix’ even though I have 12 satellites” is actionable.

Pull Requests

Want to contribute code? Read the Contributing guide first. PRs that follow the guidelines get reviewed faster.

ArduPilot Discuss

ADOS Mission Control was announced on the ArduPilot Discuss forum. The thread is a good place for ArduPilot-specific discussion. discuss.ardupilot.org (search for “Altnautica” or “ADOS Mission Control”) The ArduPilot community is active and knowledgeable. If your question is about ArduPilot behavior (not ADOS-specific), posting there gives you access to the core ArduPilot developers and thousands of experienced users.

YouTube

Technical video content about ADOS, drone building, and open-source drone software. @altnautica on YouTube Videos cover topics like WebSerial firmware flashing, SITL setup, MAVLink packet structure, and WFB-ng video links. New videos regularly. If you prefer watching over reading, start here.

Where to Ask What

Not sure where to post? Here is a quick guide.
Question TypeBest Place
”How do I…?” (quick)Discord #help
”How do I…?” (detailed, needs code)GitHub Discussion or Discord #development
Bug reportGitHub Issues
Feature requestGitHub Issues
”Is this a bug or am I doing it wrong?”Discord #help first, then GitHub if confirmed
ArduPilot-specific behaviorArduPilot Discuss forum
PX4-specific behaviorPX4 Discuss forum
Betaflight-specific behaviorBetaflight GitHub or community
”Look at my drone!”Discord #show-and-tell
Security vulnerabilityEmail team@altnautica.com (not public)
Partnership or business inquiryEmail team@altnautica.com

Getting Help Effectively

When asking for help, include context. The more specific you are, the faster someone can help you. Good question:
I installed the Drone Agent on a Raspberry Pi 4B running Bookworm. ados status shows ados-mavlink: failed. The FC is a SpeedyBee F405 connected via USB. Here is the output of journalctl -u ados-mavlink -n 30.
Less helpful question:
The agent doesn’t work. Help?
Include:
  • What you tried
  • What happened (exact error messages, not paraphrased)
  • What you expected to happen
  • Relevant hardware (board, FC, camera, radio)
  • Software versions (ados version, browser version, firmware version)
  • Logs when relevant (ados logs, journalctl, browser console)

Stay Updated

GitHub Releases

Watch the repos on GitHub (click “Watch” > “Releases only”) to get notified of new versions. Release notes describe what changed.

Changelog

Mission Control includes a community changelog at command.altnautica.com/community. It shows new features, bug fixes, and updates in a timeline format.

Roadmap

The community roadmap is visible at command.altnautica.com/community. It shows what is planned, what is in progress, and what shipped recently. Feature requests and votes happen here.

Community Guidelines

A few simple rules:
  1. Be respectful. Everyone is here to learn and build. No personal attacks, no gatekeeping, no “RTFM” responses.
  2. Be specific. Vague questions get vague answers. Include context.
  3. Search first. Your question may already be answered in the docs, GitHub issues, or Discord history.
  4. Share back. If you figure something out, post the solution. The next person with the same problem will thank you.
  5. No spam. No self-promotion unrelated to drones or ADOS. No crypto, no NFTs, no off-topic sales.

Community Projects

People are building interesting things with ADOS. Some examples:
  • Custom survey workflows for agricultural mapping
  • Integration with open-source photogrammetry tools (WebODM, OpenDroneMap)
  • Custom Betaflight configuration presets shared as JSON
  • Ground station builds with 3D-printed enclosures
  • SITL-based testing frameworks for drone software
If you build something, share it in Discord #show-and-tell or open a PR to add it to the docs.

Contact

Community: Discord Code: GitHub Email: team@altnautica.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/altnautica YouTube: @altnautica