Failsafe actions (RTL, Land, SmartRTL) in Drone Programming - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

What is the output of this failsafe action code?

Consider this drone failsafe code snippet. What will the drone do if the battery level drops below 10%?

Drone Programming

battery_level = 9
failsafe_action = 'RTL' if battery_level < 10 else 'Land'
print(failsafe_action)

A RTL

B Land

C SmartRTL

D No action

💡 Hint

Check the condition for battery level and the assigned action.

The code checks if battery_level is less than 10. Since 9 is less than 10, it sets failsafe_action to 'RTL' and prints it.

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Which failsafe action is best when GPS signal is lost but the drone is over a safe landing zone?

Choose the most appropriate failsafe action for a drone that loses GPS signal but is currently flying over a safe landing zone.

A Return to Launch (RTL)

B Hover in place

C SmartRTL

D Land immediately

💡 Hint

Think about safety and location when GPS is lost.

Landing immediately is safest when GPS is lost over a safe zone, as RTL or SmartRTL require GPS to navigate back.

🔧 Debug

advanced

What error does this failsafe code raise?

Analyze the following code snippet and identify the error it will cause when executed.

Drone Programming

def failsafe_action(signal_lost):
    if signal_lost == True:
        return 'SmartRTL'
    else:
        return 'Land'

print(failsafe_action(True))

A SyntaxError

B TypeError

C NameError

D No error, prints 'SmartRTL'

💡 Hint

Look carefully at the if statement syntax.

The code uses '=' instead of '==' in the if condition, causing a SyntaxError.

❓ Predict Output

advanced

What is the output of this SmartRTL decision code?

Given the drone's altitude and GPS status, what will the failsafe function return?

Drone Programming

def decide_failsafe(gps_signal, altitude):
    if not gps_signal and altitude > 20:
        return 'Land'
    elif gps_signal and altitude > 20:
        return 'SmartRTL'
    else:
        return 'RTL'

print(decide_failsafe(True, 25))

A Land

B No output

C SmartRTL

D RTL

💡 Hint

Check the conditions in order and the values passed.

GPS is True and altitude is 25 (>20), so the function returns 'SmartRTL'.

🚀 Application

expert

How many failsafe actions are triggered in this sequence?

Given this sequence of drone events, how many times will the failsafe action be triggered?

events = [
  {'battery': 15, 'gps': True},
  {'battery': 9, 'gps': True},
  {'battery': 8, 'gps': False},
  {'battery': 5, 'gps': False},
  {'battery': 12, 'gps': True}
]

failsafe_count = 0
for event in events:
    if event['battery'] < 10 or not event['gps']:
        failsafe_count += 1
print(failsafe_count)

A 3

B 4

C 2

D 5

💡 Hint

Count events where battery is below 10 or GPS is lost.

Events 2, 3, and 4 trigger failsafe (battery < 10 or gps False), so count is 3.