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Acceptance validation

Summary

Acceptance validation is the final gate between electronics/software commissioning and the maiden flight. It runs a structured battery of ground checks — mass, regulatory readiness, structural checks, electronics verification — to confirm the build is within spec before anything leaves the ground. A failed gate is information, not failure: every deviation found on the ground costs minutes to fix; the same deviation found in the air costs the drone. Written for a bought frame; there are no printed-frame checks (T-locks, CF rod acoustic ping) here — see the relevant build guide (e.g. sk-cinematic-6in-ardupilot-gopro) for frame-specific mechanical checks.

Concept

Gates vs checks

Hard gates — the build must not proceed to maiden if these fail. Examples: AUW exceeds the operating weight limit you're flying under, GPS cannot reach a reliable fix, motor directions are wrong. These are not warnings.

Soft checks — deviations should be logged and investigated but may not prevent the maiden under controlled conditions.

Run hard gates first. If any hard gate fails, stop.

The maiden flight as a measurement event

The maiden flight is the first data collection event for this specific build, not a performance. Whatever logging your firmware provides (Blackbox on Betaflight, dataflash logs on ArduPilot) records the gyro signal, motor balance, and general health. Every deviation from expectation is information.

Reference

Acceptance gate sequence

Mass budget (hard gate) - Weigh bare frame and with battery/payload: confirm within the weight class you intend to operate under — this has regulatory implications, see legal-and-regulatory.

Regulatory readiness (hard gate) - Operator registration/ID as applicable - Pilot competency as applicable for the planned operation - Airspace authorisation confirmed for the planned site - Insurance as applicable - Return-to-home/failsafe altitude set for local terrain, if your firmware offers an autonomous return mode

Structural checks - Props: no cracks, chips, or looseness; balanced - All fasteners: hand-check for looseness, particularly anything that saw a hard landing during commissioning - Motor mounts: secure, no play

Electronics verification (bench, battery connected) - Battery voltage reading matches multimeter within a small tolerance - GPS fix acquired within a reasonable time outdoors, if GPS-equipped - All motors spin in the correct direction, props off - Logging enabled and confirmed writing (Blackbox flash / dataflash SD) - RC link: all sticks and switches show correct direction and mapping

Procedure

Acceptance validation run

  1. Mass gate. Weigh on a calibrated scale. Compare against the weight class gates above. If any gate fails: do not proceed to maiden.
  2. Regulatory gate. Confirm operator ID, competency, insurance, and airspace per legal-and-regulatory. If anything required is missing: do not proceed to maiden.
  3. Structural inspection. Physical inspection of the items above. Replace any damaged prop immediately.
  4. Electronic bench verification. Battery connected, transmitter on first. Work through the electronics list in order. Log any deviation.
  5. Pre-maiden briefing, if flying with observers present: confirm a safety perimeter, identify emergency landing zones, confirm how you'll communicate if something goes wrong.
  6. Ready for maiden. All hard gates passed, deviations logged. Proceed to maiden-flight.

Rationale

Why structural checks run after electronics

If electronics verification reveals a hard gate failure (wrong motor direction, no GPS lock), the build returns to commissioning regardless of structural state. Electronics verification is faster and more likely to find issues on a freshly wired build — run it first.

Connections

requires: - electronics-installation related: - legal-and-regulatory - pre-flight-check - lipo-batteries leads_to: - maiden-flight