IFC 1.3 user manual

From the box to your first flight · October 2026

Safety first
In the box
What else you need
Mounting
Wiring
Setting up from your phone
Motor test
Your first flight
Flight modes
When something goes wrong
FORGE Studio
Firmware updates
Troubleshooting
Warranty and help

1. Safety first

Propellers off for every test on the bench: motor test, receiver check, setup. Put them on only to fly, outdoors.

Fly in an open place, away from people, roads, buildings and trees, in little wind. Keep the drone in sight.
Disarm only on the ground: disarming in the air stops the motors and the drone falls.
Check your country's drone rules before flying outdoors (in India: the Drone Rules, 2021 and the Digital Sky platform).
The board has no reverse-polarity protection: check the battery plug before the first connection.

2. In the box

The IFC 1.3 flight controller
Mating connectors with leads: 6-pin (ESC), 6-pin (GPS), two 4-pin (receiver, telemetry)
A 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi antenna with a U.FL plug
Four vibration dampers
The card: the board's serial number, its activation code, its Wi-Fi name and password, and QR codes to join its Wi-Fi, to activate it and to open this manual and the datasheet

Keep the card: you need the Wi-Fi password to set the board up, and the activation code if the board ever moves to another account.

3. What else you need

A Quad X frame with four motors, four ESCs with bidirectional DShot (for the battery reading: DShot extended telemetry) and propellers.
A 6S LiPo battery, and a battery lead to solder to J1 (red and black, 12 to 14 AWG, with an XT60 or XT90 to match your battery).
A radio transmitter and a receiver (CRSF / ELRS, SBUS or iBUS). The phone and FORGE Studio set the drone up; the radio flies it.
A phone or laptop with Wi-Fi. A GPS module with compass is optional (needed for LOITER, return home and flying to points).

4. Mounting

Fit the four dampers and mount the board on the 30.5 mm M3 pattern, arrow to the front, components up. (Other directions are set on the phone later.)
Keep it away from the battery leads and the ESC power wires; fit the antenna and lead it away from carbon and metal.

5. Wiring

What	Where	Notes
Battery	J1	Two rows of plated holes: solder the red lead into the + row (left) and the black lead into the − row (right), filling the holes. 6S
ESC signals	J3	M1 front left, M2 back left, M3 back right, M4 front right (arrow forward); ground on pins 1 and 6. Four ESCs or one 4-in-1: a 4-in-1's 8-wire harness goes into the 6-pin connector in the box (GND and M1 to M4 only; leave its VBAT, current and telemetry wires out and insulate them)
RC receiver	J6	5 V, GND, receiver TX on pin 3, receiver RX on pin 4
GPS and compass	J5	5 V, GND, compass SCL/SDA, GPS TX on pin 5, GPS RX on pin 6
Telemetry radio	J7	Optional
Antenna	U.FL socket	Needed for the Wi-Fi

The receiver and GPS get their 5 V only from the battery, not from USB. Bind the receiver to your radio first, as its maker's guide says (ELRS: the same binding phrase on both, or the bind button).

The full wiring diagram, every pinout and the J4 payload connector are in the datasheet.

6. Setting up from your phone

Propellers off. Connect the battery. The board has no light: about five seconds later its Wi-Fi appears on your phone, which shows it has started. (USB alone also starts it, but the receiver and GPS then stay off.)
On your phone, scan the card's Wi-Fi QR code with the camera, or join the board's Wi-Fi yourself (its name is the board's serial number, such as UV13-0004, as on the card, with the password). The setup page opens by itself. If it does not, tap Sign in to network (or the Wi-Fi notification) on your phone; "No internet" is normal, the board is not on the internet.
Open Setup and work down the steps. Each has a "What is this, and why?" with what you need:
1. Airframe: take-off weight, frame size, propeller size, motor KV and battery cells. The page tells you if the drone is heavy and what helps.
2. Board orientation: where the board's arrow points; tilt the drone and watch the picture.
3. Accelerometer (only if Level keeps failing) and Level on a flat table.
4. Gyro sets itself up; Compass only with GPS.
5. Receiver: move each stick and watch its bar.
6. Switches: the arm switch and the flight-mode switch on your radio.
7. Motors: see the next section.
8. Battery: how the board knows the battery: ESCs that report it, or a power board on J4. Pick yours, wire it as the picture shows, type the power board's two numbers from its manual, then check the voltage against a multimeter and press Set zero now. If you skip this step, the drone still flies, but nothing watches the battery.
9. Failsafe: read what it does when something goes wrong.
On Tune, apply Safe start for the first flight.

7. Motor test

Propellers off.

On the phone's Motors page, confirm the propellers are off.
Tap a motor and hold Hold to spin: it spins slowly while you hold, for 3 seconds at most. Check it is the motor in that place and that it turns the way its arrow shows.
Wrong way? Reversed fixes it in most ESCs; or swap any two of its three wires.
Spin every motor at the same speed: the page compares how much each one shakes and names one with a worn bearing.
Put each propeller on the motor with its matching spin.

8. Your first flight

Practise first in simulation mode, with FORGE Studio (2 months come with the board): your board flies a math model of your drone. Switch the drone off and on and it starts in Real Flight mode.
Go outdoors to an open space with little wind. Set the mode switch to ALTHOLD.
Throttle down, arm with the arm switch. Within 10 seconds, raise the throttle smoothly past the middle: it lifts off. Bring the stick back to the middle: it holds its height.
Land with the throttle below the middle; once on the ground it switches the motors off by itself, or disarm with the switch.
After landing, the phone's Fly page shows how much it shook during the flight and warns about a hard landing.

9. Flight modes

Mode	What it does	Needs
STABILISE	Levels itself; the height is yours (it hovers with the throttle near the middle)
ALTHOLD	Holds its height with the throttle in the middle
LOITER	Holds its height and its spot	GPS
Return home	Climbs to its return height (15 m to start with), flies home and lands	GPS
LAND	Lands where it is
GUIDED	Flies to points it is sent, for example from FORGE Studio	GPS
FORGE	Your FORGE program flies it	A program
ACRO	No self-levelling: for experienced pilots (it hovers with the throttle near the middle, as in STABILISE)

A mode that cannot fly now is refused and the drone stays in its mode; the phone and Studio say why.

10. When something goes wrong

What	What it does (as it comes; change it on the phone's Battery and Failsafe steps)
Radio lost for 0.5 s	Comes home and lands; without GPS it lands where it is
Battery low (each cell under 3.5 V, averaged over 10 s)	Comes home; without GPS it lands where it is. You can choose land or nothing instead. Only with the battery set up
Battery critical (each cell under 3.4 V, averaged over 5 s)	Lands where it is (or comes home, or nothing, as you choose). Only with the battery set up
Too far (500 m) or too high (120 m)	Comes home
Spinning out of control	Lands, with turning stopped
A crash	Stops the motors

You can take over at any time by switching mode on your radio.

11. FORGE Studio

Studio (Windows) adds the simulation, flight recordings, FORGE programs and firmware updates. It talks to the board over Wi-Fi: on the phone page, System › Simulation network joins the board to your Wi-Fi, and Studio finds it by name. See the FORGE Studio manual.

Pair Studio with your board before you fly with Studio connected: in real flight the board takes commands over Wi-Fi only from the computer it is paired with. Turn the board off and on, and within 2 minutes press Setup › Pairing › Pair this computer in Studio (the button is grey outside those 2 minutes; powering the board proves you are at the drone). The simulation needs no pairing.

Your board is on your account when it reaches you (the e-mail with its serial says so). Its 2 months of Studio start the first time you connect it to FORGE Studio while signed in. A board from someone else (a teammate) comes to your account with the serial and activation code on its card, on your account page.

12. Firmware updates

Studio tells you when new firmware is ready for your board. Connect the board by USB, confirm, and keep it connected until Studio says it is done. Updates are signed for your board and never run while it is armed.

13. Troubleshooting

What you see	What to do
No Wi-Fi from the board	Is the antenna fitted? The hotspot is off while armed in flight. Restart the board (unplug and plug the battery, or press SW2 RESET).
"Cannot arm" on the phone	The reason is shown: often the throttle is not down, Setup is not finished, or the battery is low.
The phone joined the Wi-Fi but no page opened	Tap "Sign in to network" or the Wi-Fi notification. "No internet" is normal.
"Pair this computer" is grey in Studio	Turn the board off and on, then press it within 2 minutes. Disarm first.
Receiver bars do not move	Is it bound to your radio? Are TX and RX the right way (receiver TX to pin 3)? The receiver needs the battery, not just USB.
A motor turns the wrong way	Motors page › Reversed, or swap two motor wires.
It drifts in a hover	Do Level again on a flat table; in LOITER, check the GPS has a fix.
Shaking "Some" or "High"	Check the propellers, motors (turn each by hand), screws and the dampers.

14. Warranty and help

A board with a manufacturing defect is replaced within 15 days of delivery; after that, and for crash damage, we repair it for a fee. An FC can be returned within 7 days of delivery: request it from your order page with what is wrong and photos; we reply within 1 working day. Questions? Write to us: a person answers within one working day.

UVIRA Aerospace · Generalizing Special Application Drones