Learn how to operate ALTA Pro
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ALTA Pro will notify the pilot of critical alarms through QGroundControl. These alarms indicate a serious issue has been observed in the behavior of the ALTA Pro that, if not acted upon immediately, can cause loss of control. Never continue a flight when ALTA Pro indicates an alarm!
The home switch has three positions, however only the top toggle position will turn RTL on.
(Bottom/Middle Toggle Position)
This is the normal switch position and does not initiate an RTL command.
(Top Toggle Position)
This manually initiates the RTL function. In RTL, PX4 will command ALTA Pro to climb to the set minimum altitude and then guide the unit’s position to the home point.
Once RTL has been initialized it will continue to return to home unless the Home Switch is returned to RTL Off.
The rear-facing Status Light shows the status of ALTA Pro as it boots, arms, and flies. The following table shows the different meanings of the light in the various flight phases.
Flight Phase
Light Color
Meaning
Booting
Flashing Red + White
Flight controller is booting
Standby
Flashing White
Flight controller is running and disarmed
Flashing Red
Flight controller is running and not ready to arm
Solid Red
Flight controller boot unsuccessful
Armed
Off
Ready for Flight
Flight - all modes
Solid Red
Flight critical alarm—land immediately!
Flight - Manual Mode
Off
Nominal flight status
No errors
Solid White
Outside user-defined range, height, or speed limits
Solid Red
Flight critical alarm or battery alarm voltage—land immediately!
Flashing Red
Battery land voltage—land immediately!
Flight - Height Hold
Off
Nominal flight status
Height hold inactive
Slow Flashing White
Height hold active
Solid or Flashing Red
Flight critical alarm—land immediately!
Flight - Position Hold
Off
Nominal flight status
Height hold inactive
Position hold inactive
Fast Flashing White
Height Hold and Position Hold Active
Solid or Flashing Red
Flight critical alarm —land immediately!
ALTA Pro automatically logs flight and control data when ALTA Pro is armed for flight. Data is recorded to the autopilot and are accessed through the Log Download tab in the Analyze menu of ALTA Pro QGroundControl.
Summarized flight data from an individual flight can also be viewed immediately after landing by placing a downloaded log file into PixHawk Flight Review. Full details about the review process can be found in the Flight Reporting section of the Pixhawk User Manual.
A native data analyzer is being developed and will be available on the ALTA Pro Support page.
ALTA Pro QGroundControl includes a flight status monitor that displays information about the health of the ALTA Pro and the various controls that can be selected.
Icon
Name
Description
Boot
Indicates if the PX4 has completed its booting process and whether it was successful. Any issues that prevented a normal boot are indicated here.
Battery
Displays the voltage of the battery packs.
Status
Displays the state of the PX4 flight controller.
Radio
Displays if the PX4 detects a radio controller signal. A LOS warning is displayed if no signal is present.
GPS
Displays if PX4 has resolved a GPS fix or not.
Sats
Displays the number of GPS satellites in view and being received. A minimum of 6 satellites are required in order to enter Position Mode.
Lock
Clicking on this icon displays whether a position lock is ready, indicating a valid GPS fix and good heading. This is required before the Autopilot will allow switching into Position Mode.
Altitude
Displays the current height control mode: Manual, Vario if in Height or Position mode and climbing or descending, and Hold.
Attitude
Displays the current attitude control mode.
Compass
Displays the status of the compass and if the Autopilot believes the compass readings are good or bad. If Bad, the compass may require recalibration (see the Compass Calibration section in this manual).
Speed
Displays ground speed.
Flight Time
Displays the amount to time the aircraft has been flying.
The boom-end mounted Orientation Lights indicate both the orientation of ALTA Pro in flight and the status of the individual motor Electronic Speed Controllers (ESCs) during other operational phases. The following table shows the different meanings of the light colors in the various operational phases.
Flight Phase
Light Color
Meaning
Standby
Flashing Green
ESC booted normally
Armed
User-defined
Nominal Status
Flight
User-defined
Nominal Status
Firmware Update
Pink
ESC firmware is updating
ALTA Pro has three primary flight control modes which are selected using the Mode Switch: Manual Mode, Altitude Mode, and Position Mode. ALTA Pro also has two emergency control modes, Return-to-Land and Autoland, which are available only during certain situations. For additional information, refer to the sub-section associated with each emergency control mode.
Altitude Mode and Position Mode are assistive only and are not a replacement for pilot skill and ability. Pilots should be proficient in Manual Mode flight in order to react to emergency situations as required.
Always center the control input sticks on the radio controller when switching between control modes to prevent unexpected movement of the ALTA Pro.
In Manual Mode, ALTA Pro will only stabilize its attitude. At neutral control input (middle pitch and roll stick position), ALTA Pro will attempt to remain level. Throttle control is direct.
Altitude Mode changes the throttle stick behavior to command climb and descent rates. The higher the throttle stick position, the faster ALTA Pro will climb. Conversely, the lower the throttle stick position, the faster ALTA Pro will descend.
When the throttle stick is centered, ALTA Pro will enter Altitude Hold. In Altitude Hold, ALTA Pro will maintain a target altitude and try to correct for drift. If a disturbance moves ALTA Pro away from this target altitude, ALTA Pro will climb or descend to return to the target altitude.
Altitude Mode is assistive only and is not a replacement for pilot skill and ability. Pilots should be proficient in Manual Mode flight in order to react to emergency situations as required.
Position Mode changes the pitch/roll stick behavior to command ground speeds. Pitch and roll stick deflection will command fore/aft and left/right ground speeds respectively. Controlling altitude in Position Mode is the same as in Altitude Mode.
With pitch and roll controls centered, ALTA Pro will enter Position Hold. In Position Hold, ALTA Pro will maintain its position over a given point on the ground and correct for disturbances.
Position Mode requires a strong GPS signal and communication with a minimum of 6 satellites. If a weak signal is present, ALTA Pro will not enter Position Mode. If the GPS signal degrades while in Position Mode, ALTA Pro will automatically revert to Manual Mode.
Within Position Mode ALTA Pro enters Classic Control style which use the tuning parameters to control translational position over the ground.
Position Mode is assistive only and is not a replacement for pilot skill and ability. Pilots should be proficient in Manual Mode flight in order to react to emergency situations as required.
Flight using Position Mode in areas of degraded GPS signal, such as near buildings or under dense tree cover, is not recommended. The automatic reversion to Manual Mode can cause unexpected, abrupt changes in flight behavior.
Flight using Position Mode with Compass enabled in areas near large ferrous objects or high magnetic flux is not recommended. Incorrect compass readings can result in loss of control. Compass assist can be disabled in the ALTA App if desired.
Waypoints mode allows ALTA Pro to execute a predefined autonomous waypoint missions that have been uploaded to the flight controller via ALTA Pro QGroundControl (QGC). For more information on all of the different options and abilities built into the Waypoint functionality you can read more in the PX Literature.
ALTA Pro must have a GPS lock on its home position in order to start a waypoints mission.
Return-to-Land Mode will command ALTA Pro to fly back to the defined Home Point. When ALTA Pro first acquires a GPS position, it sets this as the Home Point of the flight. See the Radio Channel Mapping section in this manual for more information on setting up the Return-to-Land Switch.
RTL can be initiated automatically with an LOS event if it is selected as the Signal Loss Action in the ALTA App. RTL can also be initiated manually while flying in Position Mode and setting the Home Switch to RTH.
Full functionality of the PX4 LOS features is only available on an S.Bus/S.Bus2 or DSM2/DSMX receiver.
When initiated manually using the Home Switch, ALTA Pro will fly back to the Home Point. ALTA Pro will hover above the home point and wait for a set amount of time and then land. The pilot can cancel the RTL procedure by returning the Home Switch to the middle or bottom position.
During an LOS event, RTL followed by Autoland will be initiated automatically if ‘RTL’ is selected as Signal Loss Action in the ALTA App and an S.Bus/S.Bus2 or DSM2/DSMX radio system is in use. ALTA Pro will first check its current altitude against Safe Height. If ALTA Pro is below the Safe Height, it will climb to Safe Height. If ALTA Pro is above Safe Height, it will remain at its current altitude. Next, ALTA Pro will fly back to the home position at the RTL Speed set in the ALTA Pro QGroundControl. Finally, upon reaching the home position, ALTA Pro will loiter for 15s and then begin to Autoland.
Autoland will only initiate if one of the following conditions is met and the Autoland is setup as the failsafe for these events. See the Safety Parameters to customize ALTA Pro’s failsafe behaviors:
Loss of Signal (LOS) occurs and ‘Land’ is selected as the Signal Loss Action in the ALTA app
At the end of a LOS Return-to-Land event when using S.Bus/S.Bus2 or DSM2/DSMX radio systems
Battery exhaustion failsafe is tripped and the failsafe is set to return to land in ALTA Pro QGroundControl.
Autoland and Return-to-Land will only occur if these settings are turned on in the aircraft parameters. Geofences
Geofences are currently not supported by Freefly. We recommend that you do not use this feature. If this feature is used, set the Geofence breach action to Warning; Hold, RTL, and Terminate should not be used as they may result in crash or an ALTA Pro that cannot return to its home position.
