Flight Computer "Modes"

A flight computer can be operated in a wide array of situations to support flight, ground, and testing operations. It would generally be a good idea to have several "modes" that a flight computer can be in to define specific states and expected behaviors.

Disabled - disable all sensors, non-critical systems, ordinance, etc. This mode should only send a heartbeat if necessary and accept incoming traffic to change out of disabled mode. This mode would be used if the flight computer is powered on but the rocket should not being anything, like when in transport from staging to the pad.

Boot - the flight computer should only have the bootloader loaded and nothing else. This mode would be used to flash programs, write mission specific data, or do other invasive processes that require nothing running but the bootloader.

Test - this is a very general mode that supports any testing operations. In general this mode should accept incoming traffic and process commands to do pre-programmed tasks that support testing operations.

Enabled - this is the main mode that runs during flight and while on the pad. Every is enabled, including ordinance, and telemetry is transmitted.

Low Function - this is the "low bandwidth" enabled mode. It may send some telemetry and read some sensors, but only what is necessary. This mode would generally be used after the rocket has landed but still needs to send out occasional GPS location transmissions.

Shadow - the same as enabled but no outputs are triggered and more logging may take place. This mode would be to verify if a flight computer or a part of the software runs correctly without actually affecting a flight.

Keep in mind that not all of these modes need to be implemented for every project, they are just general suggestions to follow.