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SAFE Panic Setup Guide
Panic can be used as an aid to get help you get out of a tricky situation (losing orientation in a maneuver, flying into sunlight, etc). Using panic is similar to switching into a regular SAFE flight mode, but offers some extra features that can be more useful for recovery purposes.
Supported Devices
Transmitters
Supported transmitters include the following
iX20 (with app version 1.10.11+)
iX14 (with app version 1.02.11+)
iX12 (with app version 1.20.11+)
All NX Radios (with firmware version 3.13+)
Gen 2 DX Radios (with firmware version 2.10+)
Receivers
Supported receivers include the following (with firmware 3.0.0+)
AR630
AR631
AS6420A
AR637T
AR637TA
AR8360T
AR10360T
AR20410T + Synapse Module
Prerequisites
In order to set up SAFE Panic, the following prerequisites are required
Run through First Time Setup (See AS3X+ Setup Guide)
Run through First Time SAFE Setup (See SAFE Setup Guide)
Have a flight mode configured/tuned with SAFE Angle Demand (See SAFE Setup Guide)
Parameter Overview
Overview
Panic/SAFE Channel
Description: This is the channel that will be used to enable Panic mode
Values: Inhibit, or any auxiliary channel
Notes:
This channel must be below +25% to enable. Above +25% will disable Panic.
Delay
Description: Determines whether there is a 2 second delay in Panic disabling when the user disables it.
Values: Inhibit, Active
Notes:
The delay amount is fixed to 2 seconds.
This can be useful to ensure maintaining Panic mode when the input to enable it is sporadic. An example would be using the “I” button to enable Panic, but not fully holding it properly right away in the spur of the moment.
Panic Flight Mode
Description: Determines the receiver flight mode to use stabilization gains from during Panic.
Values: Inhibit, Flight Mode 1-10
Notes:
It is recommended to copy SAFE configured flight mode settings to an unused flight mode slot, and then select this flight as the Panic Flight Mode
It is ideal for this flight mode to have the highest SAFE gains that the model can handle to ensure righting itself as fast as possible.
Roll Right/Left
Description: Sets the Roll angle limits during Panic mode.
Values: 0 to 90 degrees
Notes:
It is recommended to set small/tight angle limits to force the model to relatively level, regardless of the users stick inputs
Pitch Down/Up
Description: Sets the Pitch angle limits during Panic mode.
Values: 0 to 75 degrees
Notes:
It is recommended to set small/tight angle limits to force the model to relatively level, regardless of the users stick inputs
Setup Procedure
Transmitter
On the transmitter, go to the Channel Assign menu, choose an unused channel, and assign the input you wish to use to enable Panic functionality. Typically, “Switch I” (button on the top left side of the radio) is used.
On the transmitters channel monitor, verify that when your switch is in the position for which you want Panic to enable, the channel output is at -100%. Otherwise, reverse the channel in the Servo Setup menu. If using Switch I, the default behavior should already have Panic Off when un-pressed (+100%) and Panic On when pressed (-100%).
Receiver
Make sure you have a receiver flight mode set up with AS3X+ and SAFE Angle Demand.
Verify that this mode operates properly in the air.
All your gains in this flight mode should be Captured/Fixed so that they don’t depend on specific channel positions for the proper gain.
Optional - You can copy this receiver flight mode configuration to an unused flight mode to make sure its unchanged for Failsafe usage.
Go to Forward Programming > Gyro Settings > System Setup > Utilities > Copy Flight Mode Settings.
For your Source Flight Mode, select the flight mode with AS3X+ and SAFE Angle Demand already configured.
For your Target Flight Mode, select an unused flight mode where you’ll store the stabilization settings used for SAFE Failsafe.
Select Apply and confirm the rest of the prompts.
Go to Forward Programming > Gyro Settings > System Setup > SAFE/Panic Mode Setup > Panic.
For the Panic/SAFE Channel, select the channel assigned earlier in the Transmitter setup section.
For Delay, set to Act if you want Panic to remain enabled for 2 seconds after being disabled (recommended). Otherwise, leave as Inh.
For SAFE Failsafe Flight Mode, select the flight mode that has already been configured to work in SAFE (either an actually used flight mode, or the Target Flight Mode selected in step 2. c.)
Changing settings in this flight mode can affect SAFE Panic behavior. This is why its recommended to copy the flight mode that will be used by SAFE Panic into a separate unused slot to prevent accidental tweaking.
Set your Roll and Pitch angle limits to those desired for Panic mode. The recommended defaults are +/-30 degrees for both Roll and Pitch. Narrower angle limits help force the model to level out even when the user is applying full stick inputs.
Now we must determine the receiver flight modes in which we want Panic to work. Go to Forward Programming > Gyro Settings > F-Mode Setup.
Set Panic to Act for every flight mode in which you want Panic to work in. It is recommended to have it Act for all flight modes (change flight modes being edited by flipping the switch that was previously assigned to the flight mode channel). However, if there is a specific flight mode where you want Panic to be disabled, set Panic to Inh for that flight mode.
Exit forward programming.
In each flight mode that Panic was set to Act, test activating it with the switch/channel assigned to the Panic/SAFE Channel. The model should behave as it is in SAFE mode. If the Delay was activated, the model should remain in this mode until 2 seconds after Panic is toggled off.