My plane flies well after a FBWA takeoff and then switching to AUTO for it to follow all waypoints and lands correctly. Hence the next step is Auto Takeoff. When reading the documentation for Automatic Takeoff, the command NAV_TAKEOFF is not in the dropdown list I can only find ModeTakeoff is this correct for Automatic take off? This query is based on the assumption that I have to enter the command in the flight modes tab in QGroundControl.
Command type of takeoff is 22.
Add it as the first item of your command list.
https://mavlink.io/en/messages/common.html#MAV_CMD_NAV_TAKEOFF
Thank you for your reply Mustafa, I am at a loss here as I have never looked at MAV link commands. I hope you can guide me to some reading on the issue or can make the time to explain what is going on here. I need a someway for my TX to start the process of take off. I have some experience as I have been playing with model plane for the last 70 years and want to do auto flight as my flying skills are no what they used to be. The plane is fitted with a PX4 flight controller running ArduPlane version 4.1.7. A big problem is that the manuals are written by experts for use by experts.
I am not actively using QGroundControl, so I downloaded it, but on the plan screen, there is a button for “Takeoff”.
After clicking it, you can assign the takeoff location, and it appears as “Launch” on the map.
It is also seen in the dropdown menu.
I think you should update to the latest QGroundControl.
Thank you again Mustafa, I apologise for the delayed reply but life tends to get in the way.
I had the latest version of the firmware on my PX4 controller i.e. 4.2.2, and QGC version 4.2.3 on my computer an iMac so I have no access to Mission Planner. I have found the TAKEOFF command and have selected it as flight mode for my TX (Taranis). I can then switch to auto once the takeoff is completed. I hope to find the time to test fly the plane tomorrow, I will report on the success/failure as it may be. I don’t know if I will ever attempt MAVLINK, as a RTK setup is very expensive for one person.