Week 9 Mission Logic Log

Your Week 9 log is a state-machine and failsafe review.

Do not summarize waypoints. Show the logic that decides what the aircraft is supposed to do next—and what happens when normal conditions disappear.

Mission-state diagram

Draw your fictional mission with at least six states.

Every transition needs a condition.

Use labels such as:

waypoint reached
camera ready
energy below threshold
link lost
position invalid
operator abort

Avoid arrows labeled only “next.”

Preconditions

List three conditions that must be true before the mission is allowed to leave READY.

For each, state:

• the evidence source;
• what happens if the condition is unknown or false.

Recovery review

Choose one failsafe: low energy, lost link, geofence condition, or navigation-state fault.

Write:

• trigger;
• configured response;
• state/evidence the response depends on;
• route or environmental assumption;
• one counterexample where that assumption fails.

Conflict case

Create a fictional case where two abnormal conditions occur together.

Example:

low energy = true
position estimate = invalid

Explain why the system needs priority or arbitration rather than two independent commands fighting for control.

Human authority

Identify one point where human authority enters, leaves, or regains the mission-control chain.

Do not write simply “pilot can take over.” State what condition changes authority and what evidence the operator needs.

Unit 3 stack

Finish this three-line chain in your own words:

Forces change motion because...

Feedback control changes actuator commands because...

Mission software changes control targets because...

The three answers should connect, not read like unrelated definitions.

Exit standard

A strong Week 9 log makes the normal path, abnormal branches, hidden assumptions, and human-control boundary visible enough that another student can challenge the mission logic before a simulated flight begins.