Please indulge my ignorance. I see references to this thing called RC_OVERRIDE, however; I find no related parameters in Mission Planner or ArduCopter. From what I can tell, RC_OVERRIDE may be the state the system is in when you are using the GCS and telemetry to fly the UAV instead of the RC controller.
If you are flying a quadcopter with the joystick, do you keep the RC controller turned on and standing by in case you lose the PC?
The only way I see to switch from the joystick to RC control is to disable the joystick - then the RC control takes over.
Yes, the RC_OVERRIDE is a message that GCSs can send to a vehicle to simulate a RC controller. And as the name suggests it does override your RC controller, so to get back to it you indeed need to stop using the joystick (how you do that is dependent on the GCS, some can have a disable button, other might not).
We always say that you need a RC controller though. Flying without a RC receiver connected to the autopilot isn’t a very well defined behaviour.
I primarily fly with an RC transmitter and receiver (usually UHF). I want to best understand the handoff between GCS “telemetry” control and RC control. I suppose that when using a joystick, Mission Planner uses the RC_OVERRIDE capability internally and that there is no actual setting I need to configure.
Yes, Mission Planner uses the RC_OVERRIDE messages when you use a joystick with it. Mission Planner has a disable joystick button, so that if you press it stops sending the messages, but your telemetry continues to be on.
In the ArduPilot side we just record both what comes from your RC controller and the RC_OVERRIDE messages, with the latest taking priority.
Can the RC_OVERRIDE sent from another device such as Companion computer via mavlink to ardupilot ? At the same time the Joystick is connected via the Missionplanner.