FT Aura - failsafe and stabilization

justinosu

New member
Does anyone know how to enable stabilization during failsafe? I have loaded the software and looked under the safety tab but I can’t enable stabilization during failsafe. I am using a spektrum satellite so it also does not appear that I can enable it via the radio failsafe option. I tried using custom failsafe but it still isn’t enabling stabilization during failsafe, even though the gear channel is set appropriately. I have stabilization on my gear channel.
 

Bricks

Master member
What are you using for stabilization and receiver every receiver has failsafe but has nothing to do with stabilization.
 

justinosu

New member
Both where in my post: The ft aura 5 lite, and a spektrum satellite. Yes the receiver had a failsafe but I can’t change it.
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
Both where in my post: The ft aura 5 lite, and a spektrum satellite. Yes the receiver had a failsafe but I can’t change it.
What is the model of the receiver you are trying to use?
Do you know the difference in procedure for binding Fail Safe and SmartSafe?
The Fail Safe procedure or type of operation is determined by the receiver so consult the manual for the receiver.

have fun!
 

Bricks

Master member
Both where in my post: The ft aura 5 lite, and a spektrum satellite. Yes the receiver had a failsafe but I can’t change it.

My bad as I do not keep up with everything that FT puts out. Reading the nomincalture of the Aura mentions nothing about enabling SAFE mode when the receiver goes into fail safe. Normally fail safe cuts throttle and holds the last inputs some can set to go to a failsafe position not sure if the satelight receiver can do the preset hold.

I have been known to be wrong before but this is what I gather from reading about the Aura
 

myxiplx

Member
Generally the best practice for failsafe is as mentioned above, cut throttle and hold the controls in their last position.

Many failsafe events are brief, and the last thing you want is a model suddenly heading off uncommanded in a different direction. That makes it hard to regain control for all but the most experienced pilots, and also makes it difficult for any spectators to judge what it's doing.

Far safer to keep the controls where they are, and keep the model flying consistently in its last trajectory. Gives everybody time to see what it's doing, and where it's going.
 

justinosu

New member
In my failsafe testing of the FT Aura it disables safe mode upon entering failsafe even if it was active. I just find it odd that they wouldn’t provide the option of enabling safe mode upon entering failsafe. I am hoping someone from Flite test will confirm that.
 

Spitfire76

Well-known member
I have not tested failsafe yet but the Aura Config Tool does have a tab labeled "Safety" where you can set one of 3 modes
  • Off - Pass thru TX/RX failsafes (default)
  • On - 'Smart' Failsafe: Set throttle and hold all others
  • On - 'Standard' Failsafe: Set all surfaces as programmed
Since the second one holds the value of all channels except throttle can I assume that includes ch5/gear ?. If so if the switch was set to a stabilized flight mode it should stay in that mode. Also the 3rd one does allow setting the output of ch5/gear so providing Aura still acts on the value of that channel when failsafe occurs it could be configured to go into stabilize mode even if it was not set by the switch. I will test this theory once I receive my Aura.
 
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Spitfire76

Well-known member
Performed some initial testing of the failsafe modes on the Aura and its not quite what I expected.

Off - Pass thru TX/RX failsafes (default)
On - 'Smart' Failsafe: Set throttle and hold all others
On - 'Standard' Failsafe: Set all surfaces as programmed

I am using a Frsky Taranis X9D transmitter, with OpenTX 2.2.1 and a X6R receiver.

Failsafe on the TX is set to "no pulses". I tested each of the above modes on the Aura by switching off the TX. The first 2 modes seem to behave the same, throttle is cut, ailerons - roll left, rudder - yaw left and elevator - nose up all with high throws. The third one seems to behave as expected with throttle and control surfaces set to whatever is configured. Also it did not appear that the stabilization was activated in any of the 3 modes.

Also all 3 modes the blue led came on when I switched off the TX which would indicate that its detecting a failsafe.
 
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Spitfire76

Well-known member
Update to my previous post. I have the Aura fail safe set to "Off - Pass thru TX/RX failsafes (default)" but this time instead of setting "no pulses" on the TX for failsafe I set it to "custom" with the setting for CH1 to -100 in order to cut the throttle and made sure CH5 is at 0 to simulate the mode switch in the middle position. For the test I had the mode switch in flight mode 1 (gyro off) and the motor running. After switching off the TX the motor was cut and the flight mode changed to flight mode 2 which has the gyro on and so stabilization is in effect. This seems to be a good solution for enabling stabilization when failsafe occurs.
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
Thanks for the Tip. I've been wondering about this myself.

I wonder if it would make sense to have a bit of roll in addition to stabilize so that it would circle down rather than just gliding off into the sunset. This could potentially help re-establish radio link if it were on the fringe of reception.
 
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Spitfire76

Well-known member
Thanks for the Tip. I've been wondering about this myself.

I wonder if it would make sense to have a bit of roll in addition to stabilize so that it would circle down rather than just gliding off into the sunset. This could potentially help re-establish radio link if it were on the fringe of reception.

Good point and so I will add a small amount of rudder. Also what axis mode would be best during a failsafe condition - 3 or 6 axis ?
 

Spitfire76

Well-known member
I started to use an ExpressLRS TX/RX and although it can be set to use s.bus the failsafe options are limited
1708526191593.png

This means that custom failsafe needs to be handled by Aura and while its 5 PWM outputs can be programmed its still the case that the level assist is always switched off when failsafe is trigged. For example:

I am using Ch6/Aux1 to change flight modes as Ch5/gear only has 2 positions in ELRS as its the designated arming channel for multi-rotors.
In case of failsafe Ch6/Aux1 is programmed to go to 0 which corresponds to flight mode 2 (level assist) but Aura ignores it and disables the gyro.
 
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