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Operations Overview

An operation is a multi-step job that Rover Nexus runs across one or more robots, with live feedback on every step. Where a mission is a single task on a single robot, an operation is the larger job — a haul cycle, a string of delivery stops, a charging round, or a field to cover — and Rover Nexus coordinates the robots through it for you.

This section is the operator's guide to setting up and running operations. For the underlying concept and how operations relate to missions, robots, and map features, see Operations in Concepts.

What you can do with operations

  • Run a repeating job across the fleet. Stage robots at a queue, send them to load, drive a route, dump, and come back — over and over — without dispatching each trip by hand.
  • Coordinate many robots on one job. Several robots share the work; Rover Nexus assigns each one its next step and keeps them from crowding the same spot.
  • Watch progress live. Every step and every robot reports its status in real time, and when a robot can't proceed you see the reason in plain language.
  • Stay in control. Stop, resume, or reset an operation at any time, add or remove robots while it runs, and schedule start/stop/restart times.

Where operations live

Operations are built and managed in PathLab, the planning workspace you open for a fleet. Two toolbar tools handle them:

  • Make Operation — the builder where you create an operation from a preset.
  • Operations — the panel where you monitor and control everything that's running.

If you're new to PathLab, see the PathLab Overview first.

How an operation flows

  1. Prepare the map. Draw or import the features the job needs — queue points, load and dump locations, routes, fields — and deploy them to your robots. See Features and Layers.
  2. Create the operation. Open Make Operation, pick the operation type that matches the job, fill in its locations, choose the robots, and save. See Creating an Operation.
  3. Monitor and manage. Track step and robot status in the Operations panel, and use its controls to stop, resume, reset, or adjust robots as the job runs. See Monitoring and Managing Operations.
  4. Schedule (optional). Set an operation to start, stop, or restart automatically on a schedule. See Scheduling Operations.

In this section