We are currently setting up our navigator flight controller and we don’t know what the status light means. We have seen it turn red, yellow and blue. I am guessing blue means that it is good but I am not sure what the other colors mean. Could you explain what the other colors mean please?
Hi @cece,
We don’t yet have documentation for the ArduPilot status light in ArduSub, but I looked into the code and the colour definitions are here.
From a reasonably quick look, they seem to match the visual displays in the current ArduCopter documentation (which should be the case, unless ArduSub or the copter docs are outdated, since the light flashes are a shared library used by all the firmware types).
Note that solid or flashing blue (with no other colour) means there’s no GPS fix (while armed or disarmed respectively), which is usually the case for ArduSub vehicles (since they tend not to have a GPS installed).
My new unit upon activating has a flashing blue LED. Can this be turned off if I do not use a GPS?
Hi @bajaMike,
You can change the brightness of the status LED (including turning it completely off) using the NTF_LED_BRIGHT parameter of the autopilot, which can be modified through the Parameters page in QGroundControl, or in recent BlueOS 1.1 beta versions.
Note that the LED indicates much more than just the GPS state (e.g. it also indicates the armed state, and whether there’s a failsafe event occurring), so it’s generally recommended to keep on if your vehicle allows you to see it.
Hey @EliotBR,
For some that have an aluminum tube for the main WTE, is there any plan to create an RGB Underwater LED to allow this status to be extended to the outside?
Hi @k-deboer,
I’m not sure whether an external RGB LED is planned, so I’ve asked internally.
From what I can tell ArduPilot already has NeoPixel support for the status LED, and the Navigator has an RGB LED port that can be used for NeoPixel RGB LEDs, so it at least seems like a decent idea for us to make a NeoPixel-based Indicator 
Hi @EliotBR,
Was there any traction on the idea of an RGB indicator, this is particular interesting now with the idea of stuffing Pi and Navigators into your new Watertight Boxes, which obviously we now can’t see into at all - at least with the BlueROV2, we can peak in via the dome.
Cheers
Matt
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Hi @mattcmgb,
It’s not something we’re working on at the moment, but I’ve raised it with the team to let them know you’re a +1 on the idea, and to pass on your convincing reasons for why it’s extra valuable now
Hi @EliotBR,
+1 on the request for an underwater RGB (programmable through navigator pwm signal Lua scripts maybe?) light connector to serve as a status indicator. It would be particularly helpful if it were designed like a NavLight—a protruding, beacon-style fixture—for enhanced visibility.
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Interesting idea, thanks. I’ve passed it on internally