Quickstart: Mission Control - ADOS Documentation

What You Will Build

By the end of this page, you will have ADOS Mission Control running in your browser with 7 simulated drones. You can explore the dashboard, plan missions, try the configuration panels, and fly a simulated drone with your keyboard or gamepad. No hardware needed.

Prerequisites

You need:

Node.js 20+ (LTS recommended). Check with node --version
npm 9+ (ships with Node.js). Check with npm --version
Git. Check with git --version
A modern browser: Chrome, Edge, or Firefox. Chrome recommended for WebSerial support.

Mission Control uses WebSerial for USB flight controller connections and WebUSB for firmware flashing. Both require a Chromium-based browser (Chrome, Edge, Brave). Firefox works for everything except USB features.

Option A: Demo Mode (No Clone Needed)

The fastest way to try ADOS Mission Control is the hosted demo at command.altnautica.com. It loads with 7 simulated drones, demo telemetry, and all features enabled. Nothing to install. Just open the link.

Option B: Run Locally

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/altnautica/ADOSMissionControl.git
cd ADOSMissionControl

Install dependencies

npm install

This takes 1-2 minutes. The project uses Next.js 16 with React 19 and about 60 dependencies.

Start in demo mode

npm run demo

This starts the development server on port 4000 with demo mode enabled. Open http://localhost:4000 in your browser.

Demo mode sets NEXT_PUBLIC_DEMO_MODE=true and populates the dashboard with 7 simulated drones showing live-updating telemetry. It requires no Convex backend, no SITL, and no hardware.

Explore the dashboard

You should see the main dashboard with 7 simulated drones. Each drone shows:

Attitude indicator (artificial horizon)
GPS coordinates and altitude
Battery voltage and percentage
Flight mode (Stabilize, Loiter, Auto, etc.)
Connection status

Mission Control dashboard showing 7 drone cards with telemetry data

Exploring the UI

With demo mode running, click through the main tabs to see what is available.

Dashboard

The home view. Shows all connected drones as cards. Click a drone card to select it and see its detail view.

Plan

The mission planning interface. You can:

Drop waypoints on the map by clicking
Use pattern generators (survey grid, corridor scan, expanding-square search, and more)
Set altitude, speed, and camera trigger parameters per waypoint
Draw geofences and set rally points
Import and export missions in multiple formats (QGC WPL, KML, CSV)

Mission planner showing a survey grid pattern with waypoints on a satellite map

Configure

60+ configuration panels for your flight controller. In demo mode, these show example values. With a real FC connected, you can read and write parameters. Key panels include:

Panel	What It Does
Failsafe	Battery, GCS, and RC loss behavior
PID Tuning	Rate and stabilize PIDs with live response graph
Power	Battery monitor setup (voltage divider, amps per volt)
OSD Editor	Drag-and-drop on-screen display layout (4 screens)
Ports	Serial port protocol assignment (25+ protocols)
Sensors	Rangefinder, optical flow, airspeed, barometer config
Gimbal	Mount type, axis limits, ROI targeting

Flight Control

Manual flight controls. This tab shows when a drone is selected. You can:

Arm and disarm
Change flight modes (25+ modes for ArduPilot)
Fly with a gamepad or HOTAS at 50Hz input rate
Fly with keyboard (WASD + arrow keys)
Set guided mode waypoints by clicking the map

Simulate

3D mission simulation. Upload a mission plan and watch it execute with terrain following, camera trigger markers, and timing estimates.

Connecting a Real Flight Controller

If you have an ArduPilot, PX4, Betaflight, or iNav flight controller on your desk, you can connect it right now.

Start in normal mode

Stop the demo server (Ctrl+C) and start normally:

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:4000.

Plug in your flight controller

Connect the FC to your laptop with a USB cable. Make sure it is powered (some FCs need a battery connected for USB to work, others do not).

Click Connect

Click the Connect button in the top navigation bar. A browser dialog will appear listing available serial ports.

Browser serial port selection dialog with a flight controller listed

Select your flight controller and click Connect. Mission Control will:

Open the serial port at the detected baud rate
Send a MAVLink heartbeat
Request autopilot version and capabilities
Request data streams (attitude, GPS, battery, RC, sensors)
Download the full parameter list

This takes 2-5 seconds.

Verify the connection

The top bar will show the firmware type (ArduPilot, PX4, Betaflight, or iNav), vehicle type (Copter, Plane, Rover, etc.), and firmware version. The dashboard card will show live telemetry.If connection fails, check:

Is the FC powered?
Is another application (Mission Planner, QGroundControl, Betaflight Configurator) holding the serial port?
Are you using Chrome, Edge, or another Chromium-based browser? Firefox does not support WebSerial.

This applies to the direct USB path only. WebSerial, WebUSB, and Web Bluetooth need a secure context. On http://localhost:4000 they work. To use these browser features from another machine over the network, you need HTTPS (or the desktop app, which has native serial access with no browser restriction). The hosted version at command.altnautica.com uses HTTPS.This does not apply to connecting over the network to the ADOS Drone Agent or a MAVLink router. Those go over a WebSocket and need no secure context. See the plain-HTTP LAN self-host path below.

Self-Hosting on the LAN over Plain HTTP

You do not need HTTPS, the cloud, or a Convex account to run Mission Control against a real drone on your own network. The ADOS Drone Agent serves plain HTTP on port 8080, and the GCS connects to it directly.

Run the GCS over plain HTTP

Start the GCS on your own machine and open it over plain HTTP:

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:4000, or reach it from another device on the LAN at http://<your-lan-ip>:4000.

Keep the GCS on http:// for LAN self-hosting. When the page is served over https://, the browser blocks it from fetching a plain-HTTP agent (mixed content), and the GCS falls back to the cloud relay. Plain HTTP keeps the connection local and direct.

Add the agent by IP

In the fleet sidebar, use the Add-a-Node card and enter the agent’s hostname or IP (for example drone.local or 192.168.1.50). The GCS pairs with the agent directly over the LAN, stores the key locally, and contacts no cloud service.

Fly

Telemetry, video, and control flow over the LAN with no internet dependency. This is the default, local-first path; the cloud relay is only for reaching a drone on a different network.

Running with SITL

ADOS ships with a SITL (Software In The Loop) launcher that runs a full ArduPilot simulation with real physics. This is useful for testing mission planning, flight modes, and the full MAVLink stack without hardware.

Install ArduPilot SITL

Follow the ArduPilot SITL setup guide to build ArduPilot from source. The SITL binary lands in ~/.ardupilot/.

Start the SITL bridge

cd ADOSMissionControl/tools/sitl
npm install
npm start

This launches ArduPilot SITL (a real autopilot running on your computer with simulated physics) and bridges its TCP output to a WebSocket that Mission Control can connect to.

Connect from Mission Control

In Mission Control, click Connect and choose the SITL WebSocket option. You will see a simulated ArduPilot copter with GPS, battery, and full parameter set.You can arm, take off, switch modes, upload missions, and fly. The physics simulation includes gravity, drag, wind, and motor response. It is the same simulation that ArduPilot developers use.

Running as a Desktop App

Mission Control can also run as an Electron desktop app. This gives you a standalone window with native serial port access (no WebSerial browser restrictions).

# Development mode
npm run desktop:dev

# Demo mode
npm run desktop:demo

# Build distributable
npm run desktop:build:mac   # macOS
npm run desktop:build       # All platforms

The desktop app is the same codebase with an Electron wrapper. It uses about 200MB on disk and 200-300MB of RAM.

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Purpose
`NEXT_PUBLIC_DEMO_MODE`	`false`	Enable demo mode with 7 simulated drones
`PORT`	`4000`	Dev server port
`NEXT_PUBLIC_CONVEX_URL`	(none)	Convex backend URL for cloud features
`NEXT_PUBLIC_MQTT_URL`	(none)	MQTT broker URL for real-time telemetry

Cloud features (fleet management, cloud relay, community changelog) require a Convex backend. For local development and direct connections, no backend is needed.

Project Structure

A quick orientation of the codebase:

ADOSMissionControl/
├── src/
│   ├── app/              # Next.js App Router pages
│   ├── components/       # React components
│   ├── lib/
│   │   ├── protocol/     # MAVLink/MSP codec and adapters
│   │   ├── video/        # WebRTC client, transport cascade
│   │   └── mission/      # Mission file parsers, pattern generators
│   ├── stores/           # Zustand state stores (60+)
│   └── hooks/            # Custom React hooks
├── convex/               # Convex backend (optional, for cloud features)
├── tools/
│   ├── sitl/             # ArduPilot SITL launcher + WebSocket bridge
│   ├── mqtt-bridge/      # MQTT-to-Convex bridge (Docker)
│   └── video-relay/      # RTSP-to-WebSocket relay (Docker)
├── electron/             # Electron desktop wrapper
└── public/               # Static assets

Next Steps

Your First Flight

Connect a real flight controller and fly.

Quickstart: Drone Agent

Install the agent on a companion computer.

Mission Planning

Deep dive into the mission planner.

FC Configuration

Explore all 60+ configuration panels.

​What You Will Build

​Prerequisites

​Option A: Demo Mode (No Clone Needed)

​Option B: Run Locally

​Exploring the UI

​Dashboard

​Plan

​Configure

​Flight Control

​Simulate

​Connecting a Real Flight Controller

​Self-Hosting on the LAN over Plain HTTP

​Running with SITL

​Running as a Desktop App

​Environment Variables

​Project Structure

​Next Steps

Your First Flight

Quickstart: Drone Agent

Mission Planning

FC Configuration

What You Will Build

Prerequisites

Option A: Demo Mode (No Clone Needed)

Option B: Run Locally

Exploring the UI

Dashboard

Plan

Configure

Flight Control

Simulate

Connecting a Real Flight Controller

Self-Hosting on the LAN over Plain HTTP

Running with SITL

Running as a Desktop App

Environment Variables

Project Structure

Next Steps