Quickstart: Mission Control

Mission Control is the ADOS ground control station. Pick one of three ways to run it, pass the first-run screens, then connect a flight controller. No drone is needed to look around: Demo Mode fills the fleet with simulated nodes.

Hardware

A computer with a Chromium-based browser (Chrome, Edge or Brave) for USB flight controller connections. Other browsers open Mission Control but cannot use USB Serial.
Optional: a flight controller running ArduPilot, PX4, Betaflight or iNav, and a USB data cable.

Open Mission Control

Hosted
Desktop app
Local demo

Open command.altnautica.com. Nothing to install.

Download the installer for your system from the latest ADOSMissionControl release on GitHub:

System	File
Windows	`AltnauticaCommand-<version>-Setup.exe`
macOS (Apple silicon)	`AltnauticaCommand-<version>-arm64.dmg`
macOS (Intel)	`AltnauticaCommand-<version>-x64.dmg`
Linux	`AltnauticaCommand-<version>-*.AppImage`

The desktop app adds native serial, UDP and TCP connections. Install steps for each system are on Mission Control desktop app.

git clone https://github.com/altnautica/ADOSMissionControl.git
cd ADOSMissionControl
npm install
npm run demo

Open http://localhost:4000. npm run demo starts the dev server on port 4000 with Demo Mode on and needs no backend, SITL or hardware.

On Windows, run these commands from Git Bash or WSL. The demo and dev scripts use POSIX shell commands that fail in Command Prompt and PowerShell.

Building from source and environment variables are covered on Install Mission Control.

First run

The first time Mission Control opens, a welcome modal walks through:

Choose your language.
A short introduction. Click Get Started.
Before You Fly: read the terms, tick the acceptance box and click Accept & Continue. Mission Control stays locked until you accept. If the terms change later, the same screen appears again on its own and blocks the app until you accept the new version.
Set your preferences: Units (metric or imperial), Demo Mode and the optional regulatory jurisdiction.
Operating region.
Choose your theme.
Desktop App Available (browser only).
You’re good to go.

Turn on Demo Mode to see a simulated fleet. What the demo fleet contains is described on Dashboard.

Mission Control Dashboard grid showing demo fleet nodes with live telemetry — Mission Control Dashboard with the demo fleet.

The top navigation has Dashboard, Plan, Simulate, Logs and MCP. Click a node in the Fleet sidebar to open it. A drone has the tabs Overview, Flight, Cockpit (fly and arm), Setup (flight controller configuration and calibration), Parameters and Logs.

Connect a flight controller over USB

Plug the flight controller into the computer with a USB data cable.
Click + next to Fleet in the sidebar, or press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on macOS) and choose Connect Drone.
Under Flight Controller, choose USB Serial, then pick the port in the browser dialog.

Mission Control Connect to Drone dialog with USB Serial selected under Flight Controller — Connect to Drone with the Flight Controller and Companion Computer columns.

The drone appears in the fleet once the first heartbeat arrives. If the port does not open, close any other program holding it (another ground station or configurator) and check that the cable carries data. To connect through a companion computer instead, use the Companion Computer column; see Connecting. Self-hosting the cloud backend is covered in Self-hosting. Simulated ArduPilot flights are covered in SITL testing.

Next steps

Your first flight

Arm and fly from the Cockpit tab.

Connecting

Every connection method, including companion computers.

Quickstart: Drone Agent

Add a companion computer to the drone.

Mission Control overview

What each part of Mission Control does.

Start here

Quickstarts

First flight

Community

Hardware

Open Mission Control

First run

Connect a flight controller over USB

Next steps

Your first flight

Connecting

Quickstart: Drone Agent

Mission Control overview

​Hardware

​Open Mission Control

​First run

​Connect a flight controller over USB

​Next steps

Your first flight

Connecting

Quickstart: Drone Agent

Mission Control overview

Hardware

Open Mission Control

First run

Connect a flight controller over USB

Next steps