ArduPilot/ardupilot

Copter: Pre-Arm Safety Check for Auto Missions

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#1348 opened on Aug 29, 2014

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CopterEnhancementSafetygood first issue

Description

Hi all, for safety reasons I suggest a pre-arm check that either disables Auto mode or refuses to arm if the waypoints are further away from the current/home location than a user specified value in meter. This would prevent from "fly aways" when one accidentally switches to Auto mode and an "old" mission is executed which is located some n km away. Kind regards, Thorsten

Contributor guide

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
backendsecurity
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
3-5 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
C++ knowledgeUnderstanding of ArduPilot pre arm systemFamiliarity with mission planning
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
40
Research direction
Examine the existing pre arm check implementation in ArduCopter, particularly files like ArduCopter/AP Arming.cpp and ArduCopter/AP Arming.h. Understand how missions are loaded and their waypoint list is structured. Propose a new parameter (e.g., AUTO MIN DISTANCE) and modify the arming logic to check the distance from home to each waypoint in the current mission. If any waypoint exceeds the limit, refuse to arm or disable Auto mode. Simulate and test with Mission Planner.