Conducting the First Flight
Pre-Arm Safety Check
Mission Planner has a list of pre-arm safety checks that prevent the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from arming if any issues are detected before take-off. This could include missed calibrations, improper configurations, bad sensor data, etc. The safety checks help prevent crashes and fly-aways. If necessary, the safety checks can be disabled.
Use the following guidance:
When the LED flashes blue or green, it means the UAV can be armed. During the arming process, a low-pitch tone is emitted from the buzzer. The motors start to rotate and the UAV is ready to take off.
When the LED flashes yellow, disarm the UAV. The failure messages are shown on the HUD. Use the displayed failure message to resolve the error. For more details on the failure messages and solutions, go to https://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/safety-multicopter.html.
For more details on the LED indicators, refer to the table below.
LED Indicators
Flashing red and blue
Initializing sensors. Keep the UAV stationary and level while the sensors are being initialized.
Flashing blue
Disarmed with no GPS lock. Auto-mission, loiter, and return-to-launch flight modes require GPS lock.
Solid blue
Armed with no GPS lock.
Flashing green
Disarmed (but ready to arm) and GPS lock acquired. Rapid double tone when disarming from the armed state.
Flashing green rapidly
Same as above, but GPS uses Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS). The position estimation should be better.
Solid green
Single long tone during arming. When armed and GPS lock is acquired, UAV is ready to fly.
Double flashing yellow
Failed pre-arm checks (system refuses to arm).
Single flashing yellow
Radio failsafe activated.
Flashing yellow
Rapid beeping tone. Battery failsafe activated.
Flashing yellow and blue
High-high-high-low tone sequence (dah-dah-dah-doh). GPS glitch or GPS failsafe activated.
Flashing red and yellow
Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) or inertial navigation failure.
Flashing purple and yellow
Barometer glitch.
Solid Red
Error, usually due to SD card, MTD, or IMU. To resolve the issue, remove and insert the SD card. Additionally, check the SD card and analyze the boot message in the BOOT.txt file.
Solid red with SOS tone sequence
SD card missing or bad SD card.
No light when powered on
No firmware, firmware lost, SD card missing or bad format (ac3.4 or higher version).
Arming The Cube
The Cube can be armed by the following methods:
Remote controller
Hold the throttle down and keep the rudder to the right for five seconds.
Do not keep the rudder right for more than 15 seconds, as this will enable the AutoTrim feature.
Ground Control Station (GCS)
Connect The Cube to the GCS.
Open Mission Planner.
Click Action under the HUD.
Click Arm/Disarm to arm the vehicle.
Last updated
