Hello ArduPilot Community,
I’m Muhammad Ali, a final-year Software Engineering student at NED University, Karachi (Pakistan), and I’m researching to build a system called GPT-Pilot — an AI-powered assistant that integrates directly into Mission Planner to enable natural language drone control and parameter guidance.
- Project Overview
GPT-Pilot is a C# plugin for Mission Planner that embeds a chatbot interface (powered by GPT-4). The system interprets user commands like:
“Take off and fly to 20m altitude,”
“Explain RTL_ALT,”
“Why won’t my drone arm?”
It translates these into structured MAVLink commands or provides parameter guidance — all within the Mission Planner interface.
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Key Features
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Natural language command-to-MAVLink translation
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Parameter search & explanation (e.g., RTL_ALT, ARMING_CHECK)
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Rule-based Agentic AI (e.g., auto-RTL if battery < 20%)
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Optional Swarming Support–using NLP and multi-SITL coordination
Unlike existing browser-based AI WebTools, this solution is fully integrated inside Mission Planner. It doesn’t rely on external tools, making it ideal for field operations, safety monitoring, and accessible control — especially for non-expert users.
I’d also like to ask:
Has there been any prior work where a GPT-based assistant was embedded directly into Mission Planner as a plugin — with capabilities for both MAVLink control and parameter explanation? I’ve seen the MAVProxy Chat module and recent GSoC WebTool work, but I’m specifically focusing on a native Mission Planner integration.
Any references, past attempts, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Happy to collaborate or contribute back if this aligns with your interests. Thanks to the ArduPilot community for all the amazing tools and inspiration so far.
— Muhammad Ali
Final Year Student, NED University
aliarslan.se.dev@gmail.com