Safety Setup

The Vehicle Setup > Safety page is used to configure the most important failsafe settings.

Failsafe Actions

Failsafe detection can trigger one of the following (selectable) actions.

Action	Description
None/Disabled	No action (the failsafe will be ignored).
Warning	A warning message will be displayed/announced.
Hold mode	The vehicle will enter Hold mode. For multicopters this means the vehicle will hover, while for fixed/wing the vehicle will circle.
Return mode	The vehicle will enter Return mode. Return behaviour can be set in the Return Home Settings (below).
Land mode	The vehicle will enter Land mode, and land immediately.
CASA Outback Challenge rules	Unsupported. Do not use.
Flight termination	Turns off all controllers and sets all PWM outputs to their failsafe values. The failsafe outputs can be used to deploy a parachute, landing gear or perform another operation.
Lockdown	Kills the motors (sets them to disarmed). This is the same as using the kill switch.

It is possible to recover from a failsafe action (if the cause is fixed) by switching modes. For example, in the case where RC Loss failsafe causes the vehicle to enter Return mode, if RC is recovered you can change to Position mode and continue flying.

If a failsafe occurs while the vehicle is responding to another failsafe (e.g. Low battery while in Return mode due to RC Loss), the specified failsafe action for the second trigger is ignored. Instead the action is determined by separate system level and vehicle specific code. This might result in the vehicle being changed to a manual mode so the user can directly manage recovery.

Low Battery

The l_ow battery failsafe_ is triggered when the battery capacity drops below one (or more warning) level values.

The most common configuration is to set the action at Return mode at critically low level, land mode at current position if reaching dangerously low levels and the levels with Warn > Failsafe > Emergency. With this configuration the failsafe will trigger warning, then return, and finally landing as the capacity drops below the respective levels.

Alternatively set the Failsafe Action to warn, return, or land when the Battery Failsafe Level level is reached.

Setting	Description
Failsafe Action	Values are: Warning. Warn (notification only) if capacity drops below Battery Failsafe Level. Return Mode. Return mode and warn if capacity drops below Battery Failsafe Level. Land Mode. Land mode and warn if capacity drops below Battery Failsafe Level. Return mode at critically low level, land mode at current position if reaching dangerously low levels. Triggers warning, return mode and land mode at the respective levels.
Battery Warn Level	Percentage capacity for Warnings (if Warning action enabled).
Battery Failsafe Level	Percentage capacity for Return Mode action (if enabled).
Battery Emergency Level	Percentage capacity for Land Mode action (if enabled).

Object Detection

Enable/disable collision prevention and obstacle avoidance, and set the closest approach distance allowed when collision prevention is active.

Setting	Description
Collision Prevention	Disabled/Enabled.
Obstacle Avoidance	Disabled/Enabled.
Minimum Distance	Distance (metres) away from obstacle that vehicle will stop when collision prevention is active.

RC Loss

Set the action on RC loss, and how quickly the vehicle responds.

Setting	Description
Failsafe Action	Values are: Disabled, Hold mode, Return mode, Land mode, Data Link Auto Recovery (CASA Outback Challenge rules), Terminate, Lockdown.
RC Loss Timeout	Time after RC loss that the Failsafe Action is triggered.

Data Link Loss

Set the action on data-link loss (loss of telemetry to ground station), and how quickly the vehicle responds.

Setting	Description
Failsafe Action	Values are: Disabled, Hold mode, Return mode, Land mode, Data Link Auto Recovery (CASA Outback Challenge rules), Terminate, Lockdown.
Data Link Loss Timeout	Time after data link loss that the Failsafe Action is triggered.

Geofence Failsafe

The Geofence Failsafe is a "virtual" cylinder centered around the home position. If the flight controller detects a situation where the vehicle is on a trajectory to move outside of the cylinder (an "impending breach"), then the specified Failsafe Action will trigger.

Auterion Mission Control supports more complicated GeoFence geometries with multiple arbitrary polygonal and circular inclusion and exclusion areas in: Planning > GeoFence.

Set the action on impending fence breach, and the radius and/or altitude of the geofence cylinder.

Setting	Description
Action on (Impending) Breach	Values are: none, Warning, _Hold mod_e, Return mode, Terminate.
Max Radius	Horizontal radius of geofence cylinder. Horizontal geofence disabled if 0.
Max Altitude	Height of geofence cylinder. Altitude geofence disabled if 0.

If the Hold mode action is set then the hold location is positioned such that it will not cause a geofence violation. For fixed wings this means that the center of the loiter circle is set more than the loiter radius away from the geofence boundary.

If Return mode action is set then there is no guarantee that the vehicle will not violate any geofence on its return path.

Return Mode Settings

Generally return mode settings will be pre-configured by the supplier of the vehicle. The mode may be configured to use a return destination that is not affected by these settings.

Return mode causes a vehicle to fly at a safe height to a safe destination, where it may loiter and/or then land. This section allows the return height, and landing behaviour to be specified for rally point and home location landings.

Setting	Description
Climb to altitude of	Vehicle ascend to this minimum height (if below it) for the return flight.
Return home then	The action on return: Land, Loiter and do not land, or Loiter and land after a specified time.
Loiter Time	The time to loiter before landing (if return home action is Loiter and land after a specified time).
Loiter Altitude	Altitude at which the vehicle will loiter (i.e. before landing).

Land Mode Settings

Specify Land mode descent and disarm behaviour.

Setting	Description
Landing Descent Rate	Land descent rate.
Disarm After	Auto disarm vehicle on landing (the default) by enabling the checkbox and setting the disarm time. If checkbox not enabled, the vehicle will not disarm after landing.

Vehicle Telemetry Logging

Enable telemetry logging to vehicle storage.

Setting	Description
Telemetry logging to vehicle storage	Enabled/Disable logging.

Hardware In The Loop Simulation (HITL)

Pilots should not change this setting.

Enable hardware-dependent simulation: hardware in the loop or simulation in hardware.

Setting	Description
HITL Enabled	Values: HITL and SIH disabled: Hardware-dependent simulation disabled. HITL enabled: Hardware-in-the-Loop simulation enabled. SIH enabled: Simulation in Hardware enabled.