Aran Dokoupil at 10:29, 13 August 2026

2026-08-13T10:29:55Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:29, 13 August 2026
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	\| '''Blinking red''', no beeps		\| '''Blinking red''', no beeps
	\| Not ready ~~and not able to explain itself — usually still~~ starting up~~, or~~ the ~~boat has been moved during start-up~~.		\| Not ready. Normally just starting up — the attitude estimate isn't running yet.
	\| Normal for the first ~~seconds~~ after power-up. If it ~~persists~~, ~~restart with the boat~~ '''~~held still~~'''~~. If~~ it ~~still persists, don~~'~~t foil~~.		\| Normal for the first half-minute after power-up; wait. If it stays red, '''flip the enable switch''': if it's a real fault it will start beeping a code you can count. (Safe to try — a refusal leaves the foils neutral.)
	\|-		\|-
	\| '''Steady red''' + long repeated blast		\| '''Steady red''' + long repeated blast
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	\| style="text-align: center; font-size: 150%;" \| '''5'''		\| style="text-align: center; font-size: 150%;" \| '''5'''
	\| The motion sensors ~~are still settling, or they~~ disagree with each other.		\| The autopilot's motion sensors disagree with each other. This is a fault, not a warm-up — waves and wake do not cause it.
	\| '''~~Keep the boat still~~''' ~~for half~~ a ~~minute — wake and movement during start~~-~~up cause this~~. If it ~~clears~~, ~~carry on. If it persists on~~ a ~~still boat after a restart, don't foil~~.		\| '''Do not foil.''' Power off and on once to rule out a one-off. If it comes back, needs a technician.
	\|}		\|}

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	# Power on. Light comes up '''red or yellow, blinking''' — this is expected.		# Power on. Light comes up '''red or yellow, blinking''' — this is expected.
	# '''~~Keep the boat still~~''' ~~for~~ the first ~~half-minute~~. ~~Movement during start-up causes~~ the ~~5-beep sensor code~~.		# '''Wait.''' Nothing is required of you. The attitude and height estimates come up over roughly the first 20–30 seconds. You do not need to hold the boat still, and chop, wake or being under way do not affect this.
	# Light settles to '''blinking yellow''', then '''blinking green''' after around 20 seconds.		# Light settles to '''blinking yellow''', then '''blinking green''' after around 20 seconds.
	# '''Blinking green''' = ready. Flip the enable switch.		# '''Blinking green''' = ready. Flip the enable switch.

Aran Dokoupil: Created page with "= Hydrofoil status light: pilot's guide = The boat has '''no screen'''. Everything the foil controller needs to tell you comes through two things: * the '''status light''' (one bright RGB lamp) — tells you the state, all the time * the '''beeper in the throttle unit''' — sounds only when you need to ''do'' something You do not need to know how the controller works to use this guide. Read the light, listen for the beeps, act on the table. TOC == The one thing..."

2026-08-13T10:25:39Z

Created page with "= Hydrofoil status light: pilot's guide = The boat has '''no screen'''. Everything the foil controller needs to tell you comes through two things: * the '''status light''' (one bright RGB lamp) — tells you the state, all the time * the '''beeper in the throttle unit''' — sounds only when you need to ''do'' something You do not need to know how the controller works to use this guide. Read the light, listen for the beeps, act on the table. __TOC__ == The one thing..."

New page

= Hydrofoil status light: pilot's guide =

The boat has '''no screen'''. Everything the foil controller needs to tell you comes through two things:

* the '''status light''' (one bright RGB lamp) — tells you the state, all the time
* the '''beeper in the throttle unit''' — sounds only when you need to ''do'' something

You do not need to know how the controller works to use this guide. Read the light, listen for the beeps, act on the table.

__TOC__

== The one thing to remember ==

<div style="border: 3px solid #cc0000; background: #fff0f0; padding: 1em; margin: 1em 0; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 180%; font-weight: bold; color: #cc0000;">SOLID RED = CUT THE THROTTLE</span>

Ease the throttle right off and let the boat settle down off the foils.<br />
Do it first, ask why afterwards. '''The boat will not do this for you.'''
</div>

The controller never takes the throttle away and never snaps the foils to neutral at speed — that would be its own hazard. '''You are the safety system.''' The light and the beeper are how it asks you to act.

== How to read the light ==

The light says two separate things at once:

{| class="wikitable"
! Signal !! What it tells you
|-
| '''The colour'''
| How healthy the system is — always live, whether or not the enable switch is on.
|-
| '''Steady or blinking'''
| Blinking = ''not'' flying the foils (standby or refusing). Steady = ''flying the foils now''.
|}

So the colour tells you what you'll get '''before''' you flip the switch. Red is deliberately much brighter than green and yellow, so it reads in daylight: green and yellow mean "nothing to do", red means "act".

== The states ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Light !! Meaning !! What you do
|-
| '''Blinking green'''
| Everything healthy, standby.
| '''Flip the enable switch when you're ready to foil.'''
|-
| '''Steady green'''
| Foiling under full control.
| Nothing. This is normal running.
|-
| '''Blinking yellow'''
| Standby, but not fully ready yet.
| '''Wait.''' Normal for roughly the first half-minute after power-up. If it stays yellow, see [[#Yellow: what it means|Yellow]] below.
|-
| '''Steady yellow'''
| Foiling, but running degraded — a backup has been lost.
| You can keep going, but '''you have no spare.''' Stay conservative, come off the foils sooner rather than later, and get it looked at before the next run.
|-
| '''Blinking red''' + counted beeps
| '''It is refusing to engage.''' Flipping the switch will do nothing.
| '''Count the beeps''' and use the [[#Refusing to engage: count the beeps|refusal table]].
|-
| '''Blinking red''', no beeps
| Not ready and not able to explain itself — usually still starting up, or the boat has been moved during start-up.
| Normal for the first seconds after power-up. If it persists, restart with the boat '''held still'''. If it still persists, don't foil.
|-
| '''Steady red''' + long repeated blast
| '''ALARM.''' Something failed while you were foiling.
| '''CUT THE THROTTLE.''' Come off the foils. Don't re-engage until it's been checked.
|-
| '''Steady red''', no beeps
| The controller has lost the connection to the throttle unit and rear foil. It cannot beep at you — that's why the light alone has to say it.
| '''CUT THE THROTTLE.''' Come off the foils. Do not foil again until it's fixed.
|}

== Refusing to engage: count the beeps ==

Blinking red with a repeating group of '''short, low beeps'''. The '''number of beeps in the group is the fault code.''' The group repeats after about a second and a half of silence, so you get as many chances to count as you need.

{| class="wikitable"
! Beeps !! What's wrong !! What you do
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-size: 150%;" | '''2'''
| Its own settings were changed and haven't taken effect yet.
| '''Power the autopilot off and on''', wait for the light, try again. If it comes back, don't foil.
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-size: 150%;" | '''3'''
| Its height reference isn't set up correctly, so it cannot trust the ride-height reading.
| '''Do not foil.''' Needs a technician — this is a configuration fault, not something to work around.
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-size: 150%;" | '''4'''
| It cannot trust the enable switch itself.
| '''Do not foil.''' Needs a technician. Note this code sounds ''even with the switch off'' — there is no trustworthy switch reading to keep quiet about.
|-
| style="text-align: center; font-size: 150%;" | '''5'''
| The motion sensors are still settling, or they disagree with each other.
| '''Keep the boat still''' for half a minute — wake and movement during start-up cause this. If it clears, carry on. If it persists on a still boat after a restart, don't foil.
|}

A refusal is always safe: the foils go neutral and stay there. Nothing is happening behind your back.

== The alarm: steady red, long blast ==

A '''long, high, loud''' beep, about a second of tone every three seconds — clearly different from the short low counting beeps. You'll also hear the autopilot's own buzzer.

'''There is only one alarm.''' Whatever caused it, your action is the same, so the controller does not make you tell alarms apart at speed:

<div style="border-left: 6px solid #cc0000; background: #fff0f0; padding: 0.8em 1em; margin: 1em 0;">
<span style="font-size: 150%; font-weight: bold;">CUT THE THROTTLE. COME OFF THE FOILS.</span>
</div>

Causes are things like the boat losing its sense of attitude, a motion-sensor fault, the autopilot dropping out of its stabilised mode, or both height sensors going quiet. The foils '''keep working on the last good information''' while it alarms — they are not thrown to neutral, because that would be worse at speed. But it is telling you the information it is flying on is no longer trustworthy, so get off the foils.

The alarm stops on its own the moment the fault clears, and the light goes back to green or yellow. '''A self-clearing alarm is still a real event''' — it happened. Come in and have the log read before the next run.

== Yellow: what it means ==

Yellow is "working, but not perfect." Common and harmless reasons:

* '''Just powered up.''' The height estimate takes roughly 20 seconds to become usable. Yellow then green is the normal start-up sequence.
* '''One height sensor quiet.''' Two are fitted; either one alone is enough to fly on. Yellow is telling you the spare is gone.
* '''Roll-test mode selected.''' In this test mode the light '''never goes green''' — that's by design, not a fault. If you didn't intend to be in a test mode, get it switched back.
* An internal health check not passing.

Yellow while '''standby''' (blinking): wait, or find out why before you launch.

Yellow while '''foiling''' (steady): finish up conservatively; don't start a new run on yellow.

== Normal start-up, in order ==

# Power on. Light comes up '''red or yellow, blinking''' — this is expected.
# '''Keep the boat still''' for the first half-minute. Movement during start-up causes the 5-beep sensor code.
# Light settles to '''blinking yellow''', then '''blinking green''' after around 20 seconds.
# '''Blinking green''' = ready. Flip the enable switch.
# Light goes '''steady green'''. You're foiling under control.

If step 3 never reaches green, do not launch — read the light and the beeps from the tables above.

== If the light itself looks wrong ==

The light is refreshed constantly while the controller is alive, and it always either blinks (standby) or sits steady (engaged).

'''Do not foil if:'''

* the light is '''completely dark''', or
* the light is '''frozen''' — it never blinks and never changes colour when you flip the enable switch.

Either means the controller isn't running or the lamp is broken. With no controller you have no ride-height control and '''no warnings of any kind''' — nothing will tell you when something goes wrong. Get it checked.

== Pre-launch check: 20 seconds ==

# Light is alive and '''blinking''' (not dark, not frozen).
# Flip the enable switch '''off''' and '''on''' and confirm the light changes between blinking and steady. That proves the switch is being heard.
# Launch only on '''green'''.
# Know before you leave the dock: '''solid red means cut the throttle.'''

Foiling information for pilots - Revision history

Aran Dokoupil at 10:29, 13 August 2026