Heliceo Fox6 Page 2 User Manual Download

Page: 2 / 73

V1.1

Table of contents

Disclaimers ................................................................................................................................ 4

Revision history .......................................................................................................................... 5

Assembly ................................................................................................................................... 5

Flight case content .................................................................................................................. 5

Fox6 setup ................................................................................................................................. 6

Drone Initializing ....................................................................................................................... 9

Drone Box setup .................................................................................................................... 10

Firmware check ..................................................................................................................... 10

Upload the firmware ............................................................................................................ 11

Upload the vector parameters ........................................................................................... 12

Use of the Radio Control ...................................................................................................... 14

Fox6 controls .......................................................................................................................... 14

MODE 1

–

Throttle at right handle and pitch at left handle .................................... 15

MODE 2

–

Throttle at left handle and pitch at right handle .................................... 17

Flight modes .................................................................................................................... 19

Other commands ........................................................................................................... 20

Battery..................................................................................................................................... 22

Power consumption and autonomy.................................................................................. 22

Use of the battery and battery charger ........................................................................... 22

Battery warning notification ................................................................................................ 26

Switch the Fox6 ON ............................................................................................................... 29

Calibrations ............................................................................................................................ 30

Compass ................................................................................................................................ 30

Overview ......................................................................................................................... 30

Calibration procedure .................................................................................................. 31

Calibration backup ....................................................................................................... 34

Calibration restoring ...................................................................................................... 34

IMU........................................................................................................................................... 34

Overview ......................................................................................................................... 34

Calibration procedure .................................................................................................. 35

EKF Check .............................................................................................................................. 38

Sony Alpha6000 camera ..................................................................................................... 39

Charging ................................................................................................................................ 39

Camera setting ..................................................................................................................... 40

Menu setting ................................................................................................................... 40

Photo setting ................................................................................................................... 41

Camera installation on Fox6 ............................................................................................... 41

10.

Navigation plan setup ......................................................................................................... 42

Installation of the Ground Control Station (GCS) software ..................................... 42

Connection of the Ground Control Station (GCS) to the Radio Antenna (RA) .. 44

11.

Automatic mission planning ................................................................................................ 45

Summary of Contents for Fox6

Page 1: ...1 V1 1 ...

Page 2: ...6 Battery 22 Power consumption and autonomy 22 Use of the battery and battery charger 22 Battery warning notification 26 7 Switch the Fox6 ON 29 8 Calibrations 30 Compass 30 Overview 30 Calibration procedure 31 Calibration backup 34 Calibration restoring 34 IMU 34 Overview 34 Calibration procedure 35 EKF Check 38 9 Sony Alpha6000 camera 39 Charging 39 Camera setting 40 Menu setting 40 Photo settin...

Page 3: ...uisition survey 58 13 1 Arming disarming 58 Manual automatic mission 59 14 Parachute option 60 14 1 Opale mechanical parachute 60 14 2 Galaxy pyrotechnical Parachute 64 15 Datasheets 64 15 1 Drone Box 64 15 2 Fox6 66 Sony Alpha 6000 camera standard 67 16 Emergency proceedings 67 Failsafe 67 Battery 67 Remote Control 67 EKF error 68 Pilot control 68 17 Warranty 70 18 Appendix 1 Canon Ixus 160 camer...

Page 4: ...ong with its components and accessories is a sophisticated drone model It should be operated under the following guidelines Before each navigation check the model to ensure its proper condition for operation The model should always be navigated safely in accordance with existing conditions and compliance with the safety rules do not navigate above alive animals or group of people do not navigate w...

Page 5: ...t Part number 1 Fox6 Frame F6 1 0 OPT 2 Sony Alpha6000 F6 OPT PL01 1 0 3 Drone Box RTK DB BOXRTK 4 Battery tester STD ELEC TES TENLIPO 5 Battery 16000mAh 4S STD BAT 4S 16000 6 Battery charger DYN 4300 STD BAT CHA DYN4300 7 Battery charger cable for Fox6 STD BAT CAB CHAR F6 8 Battery charge power supply cable STD BAT CAB DYN4012 9 Standard tool kit STD TOOLKIT 10 Radio control STD RC TARX9D A8 ...

Page 6: ...1 Fox6 setup Please start with this view this is the fully setup Fox6 ready to operate The Fox 6 is delivered in a travel configuration Follow these steps to prepare the multirotor for flight 1 2 5 3 9 4 10 ...

Page 7: ...ip and unclip the travel position arms in the flight position Make sure that each arm is inserted into the clip Repeat the same procedure with the foldable feet of the drone Be careful not to twist the arms when handling them ...

Page 8: ...o the Drone Box and connect the Box to the Fox6 The procedure to upload the Fox6 firmware is described below in the next chapter Note that the procedure will be necessary only when the Drone Box is used on another Hélicéo vector other Hélicéo drone etc Slide each arm into the travel position Attach the arms in the clips Travel position Flight position Attach the arms in the clips Slide each arm in...

Page 9: ... drone on the TAKE_OFF area Make sure the Fox 6 is as horizontal as possible After power on do not move the drone until DroneBox LED blinks green If these recommendations are not followed the Drone Box may fail to initialize or messages such as BAD Compass Health BAD Accel Health or BAD Gyro Health may happen ...

Page 10: ... Connect the Drone Box to the tablet PC using a USB cable telemetry and launch the software Mission Planner Connect on the corresponding USB serial data port COM at 115200 bauds 1 Click on the FLIGHT DATA view 2 Navigate through the tabs up to the Messages tab under the Head Up Display HUD window 3 4 Verify that the Frame corresponds to the vector Fox6 5 ...

Page 11: ...C using a USB cable and launch the software Mission Planner Select the right COM port but do not click on connect button 1 Go to the INITIAL SETUP view 2 and then to Install Firmware 3 Click on Load custom firmware 4 and pick up the px4 firmware file that corresponds to the vector for instance ArduCopter v2_FOX3336_27fdf509_Fox6 px4 5 Wait a while and follow the instructions ...

Page 12: ...he corresponding USB serial data port COM at 115200 bauds 1 Go to CONFIG TUNING 2 and then to Full Parameter List 3 Click on Load from file 4 Select the parameters file corresponding to the vector Fox6 param 5 Verify that the Frame corresponds to the vector Fox6 6 Upload the vector parameters in the Drone Box by clicking on Write Params 7 ...

Page 13: ...13 V1 1 ...

Page 14: ...e OFF position and the throttle is fully lowered If a switch or joystick is incorrectly positioned an audio warning is given by the RC To avoid any problem remember to always power on the remote control before power on the Fox6 The procedure avoids to trigger a failsafe RTL and then the parachute Fox6 controls Control the Fox6 manually using the RC ...

Page 15: ...tick vertically to fly forward and backward Roll Move the right joystick to fly horizontally to the left and right FOWARD THROTTLE STICK Moving forward increases speed and flight altitude Take off BACKWARD THROTTLE STICK Backward motion that decreases flight speed and altitude Landing MAINTAINED THROTTLE STICK Flight Stabilization blocks and control the altitude CLOCKWISE YAW ROATION Maintaining y...

Page 16: ...right horizontal flight to the right LEFT ROLL Moving left horizontal flight to the left FORWARD PITCH Horizontal forward displacement of the drone BACKWARD PITCH Horizontal backward displacement of the drone CENTER ROLL AND PITCH Straight flight stabilized automatically ...

Page 17: ...e backwards Pitch Move the right joystick vertically to fly forward and backward Roll Move the right joystick to fly horizontally to the left and right FOWARD THROTTLE STICK Moving forward increases speed and flight altitude Take off BACKWARD THROTTLE STICK Backward motion that decreases flight speed and altitude Landing MAINTAINED THROTTLE STICK Flight Stabilization blocks and control the altitud...

Page 18: ... turning on itself RIGHT ROLL Moving right horizontal flight to the right LEFT ROLL Moving left horizontal flight to the left FORWARD PITCH Horizontal forward displacement of the drone BACKWARD PITCH Horizontal backward displacement of the drone CENTER ROLL AND PITCH Straight flight stabilized automatically ...

Page 19: ...easiest way to fly Simply release the joysticks and the drone will fly on the spot Altitude Hold Assist manual control The Altitude Hold mode provides manual control of roll pitch and yaw while allowing the autopilot to maintain the current altitude automatically Set the left joystick to the center and the drone automatically maintains the current altitude Lift the throttle above the center to rai...

Page 20: ... Automatic return to home point Tilt the SA control towards you to manually trigger the automatic return of the aircraft to its take off point Parachute Stopping motors and releasing the parachute Tilt the SC Fail Safe control towards you to manually stop the engines and release the parachute Triggering the Camera Tilt the HS controller up to manually trigger the photo taking ...

Page 21: ...21 V1 1 Gimbal pitch control Use the left side tilt to change the gimbal pitch Upper position corresponds to Zenith orientation lower position to Nadir ...

Page 22: ...ween 16 8 volts fully charged and 14 volts fully discharged Before and during the flight please check the value It is recommended to adapt the Fox6 speed according to the foreseen crossing distance of the mission and to the wind speed Use of the battery and battery charger Recharge the battery before the first mission Battery recharging and security 1 Connect the charger to a power outlet Connect ...

Page 23: ...the battery Fix the battery inside the protection bag as shown below 2 Adjust the charger parameters as below with the touch screen Select the LIPO program with the left and right arrows Select the correct cell number for the battery 4S by selecting Pack Volt item and using up and down arrows ...

Page 24: ...em and using up and down arrows Select the correct charge current for the battery maximum 16A by selecting Current item and using up and down arrows Press and hold the Press Hold CHARGE line on the touch screen to start battery charge The battery is charging The battery is fully charged ...

Page 25: ...battery while charging Make sure the wire connection polarity is correct Protect the battery from extreme low and hot temperatures Place the battery in a fireproof environment Lithium Polymer battery warnings Only use a Lithium Polymer charger specifically designed for the battery 5 cycles of charge discharge will give the battery the optimal power Using a weak battery presents a risk for the secu...

Page 26: ...o the INITIAL SETUP view Optional Hardware and Battery Monitor menus as shown below when connected to the Drone Box Then click on MP Alert on Low Battery checkbox Three popup windows will prompt for message leave as for battery warning threshold 14 3 volts is a good value and for current threshold value 0 ...

Page 27: ...s when correctly setup and connected to the Fox6 in the FLIGHT DATA view the battery information in the UAV window is white when battery voltage is over 14 5 volts and become red when under this threshold as below ...

Page 28: ...28 V1 1 ...

Page 29: ...d ON Switches throttle 2 Test the battery charge level with the battery tester In full charge the battery voltage is in the 16 6v and 16 8V range Each battery element should be around 4 20V which can be individually checked with the CELL button 3 Attach the battery in the specific battery compartment Connect the black power cable and then the red power cable The Fox6 starts beeping An automatic el...

Page 30: ... the battery before switching OFF the RC Always terminate the mission with a battery charge at 14 3 Volt with an automatic Return to Launch RTL 8 Calibrations Compass Overview The compass initial calibration is achieved by HELICEO Nevertheless be aware that the terrestrial magnetic field varies following the region location on earth It will sometimes be necessary to recalibrate the compass before ...

Page 31: ...ox to the PC via telemetry Launch the software Mission Planner In the view Initial Setup 1 Mandatory Hardware 2 Compass 3 Click on Live Calibration 4 Place the Drone Box heading to the North as accurate as possible and click OK Avoid metallic masses or high power lines in the surroundings ...

Page 32: ...loop turning forward looping A 3D circle shall be drawn as shown on the image above Once the North heading loop is completed turn the Drone Box to the East and execute the same rotation but this time turning sideward ...

Page 33: ...pear the messages correspond to the internal compass 1 and external compass 2 values Verify that the values for compass 1 are comprised between 150 and 150 Click OK The calibration is completed If the message Set Compass offset failed appears the calibration needs to be started again from scratch ...

Page 34: ... reusable by calibration restoring see below Calibration restoring In the same way connect the Drone Box to the PC via USB and click on Restore Parameters IMU Overview The initial accelerometers calibration is achieved by HELICEO Nevertheless it could be necessary to redo the calibration Be aware that this operation is seldom A new calibration is necessary when the blue and red crosses are differe...

Page 35: ...dure Plug the Drone Box to the Fox6 and connect the Drone Box to a PC with a USB cable follow procedure as described in previous chapters Launch the software Mission Planner In the Initial Setup 1 Mandatory Hardware 2 Accel Calibration 3 Calibrate Accel 4 ...

Page 36: ...ick on Click when Done as shown below Lean the drone to its left side and click on Click when Done as shown below Lean the drone ton its right side and click on Click when Done as shown below Lean the drone nose down and click on Click when Done as shown below ...

Page 37: ...d click on Click when Done as shown below Lean the drone to its back and click on Click when Done as shown below Click on Calibrate Accel If the message Calibration failed appears the calibration needs to be started again from scratch ...

Page 38: ...picture below Then the following menu will display Afterwards hold the Fox 6 parallel to the ground and perform slowly a complete circle At the meantime check the compass value is never above 0 5 If this value grows up above 0 5 please perform a new calibration see above Checking EKF values allows to verify a good compass calibration in different directions This will check the good entire configur...

Page 39: ...00 camera equips the Fox6 in the standard version Check the Sony Alpha 6000 working capacity before each mission Charging Sony Alpha 6000 has its own battery so to charge it use the appropriate charger provided and connect the cable to the camera body ...

Page 40: ...40 V1 1 Camera setting Menu setting Please reproduce the menus pages of the following images ...

Page 41: ...re searching the best depth field for the camera with a fixed focal length a So put your camera in MF Manual Focus mode b Put the pancakes to the upper value infinity c Then turn it clockwise and take a photo at each position d Look at the photo by using zoom and verify if both background and foreground are net Normally the good focus value is the last with an infinity symbol e Then use some tape ...

Page 42: ...Control Station GCS software Mission Planner allows to transform a Windows PC into a Ground Control Station GCS in order to configure and follow the Fox6 autonomous missions The PC is required on the acquisition site during the mission Mission Planner can be downloaded from the Hélicéo cloud http cloud heliceo com heliceo_cloud download ...

Page 43: ...43 V1 1 If Mission Planner is already installed please don t update it without the Hélicéo support suggestion ...

Page 44: ...he RA to the Ground Control Station GCS PC using the micro USB cable Open Mission Planner Ground Conrtol Station GCS PC with connected RA 2 Select 57600 and AUTO then select CONNECT Be aware that to establish connection between the PC and the Drone Box with a USB cable e g to download the acquisition data the rate will be different and fixed at 115200 3 Select the Flight data view to display the l...

Page 45: ...just before launching the mission Mission Planner requires an internet connection to access the online available maps If there is no internet access on the AOI maps can be preload in the office To load the required map adjust the desired zooms on the AOI by waiting the full map load when connected to internet All maps loaded are stored in local mission planner installation on computer hard drive T...

Page 46: ...g menu and Prefetch Accept the default values Mission Planner will download the maps of the selected location on the PC 3 Mission Planner will try to download the map data from the current zoom up to the most precise zoom resolution Nevertheless downloading all zoom ...

Page 47: ...he zoom resolutions levels are indexed from 0 to 25 Press ESC to skip the undesired zoom Define the Area Of Interest AOI polygon Select the Flight Plan view and zoom on the AOI 1 Right click on the map and select Draw Polygon and Add Polygon Point ...

Page 48: ...48 V1 1 2 Accept the popup message 3 Restart point 1 to add as many polygon points as needed Click on the created points maintain the pressure and shift the polygon corners where necessary ...

Page 49: ...on the polygon Select Auto WP and Survey Grid to open the surveying tool Units the drone uses metric values If Mission Planner uses other values change the parameters in order to use the metric system in the mission planning ...

Page 50: ...e the flight plan The following mandatories must be respected Flight time under 18 minutes for a new battery Time between each photo 2 second We recommend 80 60 as overlap sidelap Check the 2 first mandatories in the Stats at the bottom of the window Note All the info are estimations ...

Page 51: ...ck camera top facing forward 4 Choose the right speed in respect of the inter photo time 5 Check speed for this mission 6 Check Add Takeoff and Land point This will automatically add a 30 m takeoff and Land point at the beginning and end of the flight plan 7 Check Use RTL This will automatically add a Return To Launch at the end of the flight plan Check Advanced Options to access the other panels ...

Page 52: ...52 V1 1 Grid Options panel 1 Recommendation overlap 80 2 Recommendation sidelap 60 to 80 3 Recommendation Delay at WP 0 ...

Page 53: ...age height 4000 px d Sensor width 22 4 mm e Sensor height 15 6 mm Then save the camera by clicking save choose a name now the camera is on the mission planner database Mission Planner allows to load an image as sample photo when the sensor s dimensions are unknown Directly load a picture taken by the camera click on Load Sample Photo 2 Check CAM_TRIGG_DIST this will trigger the camera by distance ...

Page 54: ...54 V1 1 Then accept the plan Mission results can be found in the waypoints window ...

Page 55: ...mission Way Points instructions may be saved in a file by clicking on Save WP File and Way Points instructions may be reloaded from a file by clicking on Load WP File as shown below Load the navigation plan to the drone via telemetry or USB cable Click on the Ecrire PNs or Write PNS button A popup message done must appear without error mention Place the drone close to the Ground Control Station GC...

Page 56: ...lanner dashboard Overview In the Mission Planner software when connected with telemetry or via USB to the Fox6 it is possible to monitor in real time the drone data in the Flight data view in the quick view as shown below ...

Page 57: ...d in real time To change a data field double click on it The table below appears Choose the new field to display e g the current altitude Preferred six values alt current altitude air speed gpshdop ground speed setcount number of sattelites battery voltage ...

Page 58: ...utes press the Drone Box button during 2 seconds The LED color should turn to RED steady The Fox6 is now ready to fly use the Radio Controller to ARM DISARM the Fox6 as explained earlier in the chapter Fox6 arming and disarming After the mission disarm the Fox6 by pressing the safety button on the top of the Drone Box again RED flashing LED shall be obtained Note that the mission logs are recorded...

Page 59: ...button Idle position run forward High position run backward Position the Fox6 to a safe location for Take Off and start the automatic navigation SE button in middle or high position To stop the automatic mode in case of emergency or when the survey mission is completed switch to manual mode Automatic Return to Launch can be stopped by the same action on the SE button ...

Page 60: ...nd efficient opening First spread out the parachute making sure that no line hangs over another line Perform some pre inflations Position the parachute flat and collect all the lines Keep them in position with a ballast if possible Thoroughly clear and separate each panel Then distribute them in an identical manner on each side of the line 5 on each side ...

Page 61: ... in the length the next step is to fold the remainder to the size of the Pod The folding must be done in 3 layers The trailing edge of the parachute must be positioned at the opening flap of the container To store the lines in the Pod grab them and make a 8 with fingers Then insert all the lines in front of the trailing edge of the parachute ...

Page 62: ...62 V1 1 Grasp the black elastic buckle to close the Pod as shown below Once the shutter is closed pass 3 to 4 lines to lock the opening ...

Page 63: ...that the ejection system does not interfere with the opening of the device Then place the rest of the straps on the ejection plate before placing the emergency parachute there Fold down the extraction pod Make sure that the straps are placed on both sides of the ejection system as shown in the picture Lock the Pod by passing the ring through the actuator arm this already contains the ring of the e...

Page 64: ...tures Drone Box Slim Drone Box RTK Hardware Material Composite Composite Dimensions 130 x 170 x 270 mm 130 x 170 x 270 mm Weight 0 550 kg 0 667 kg Air temperature range 10 C to 60 C 0 C to 60 C Navigation Satellites GPS L1 band for navigation GPS Glonass L1 L2 bands for centimetric positioning RTK No Yes PPK No Yes Accuracy 1 to 3 m 0 03 m X Y 0 05 m Z IMU MEMS 3D Attitude 1 MEMS 3D Attitude 1 Fir...

Page 65: ...opilot navigation planning Communication management GNSS Nav board IMU time synchronization camera and others GNSS Centimetric Board IMU time synchronization camera and others Data logging On board autopilot telemetry GNSS IMU On board autopilot telemetry GNSS IMU ...

Page 66: ...1 mph Maximum climb sink speed 3m sec 1 Maximum altitude 2000m ASL Flight height 30m to 150m AGL typical Radio link range Up to 2 km Crossing distance Up to 10 linear km Resistance to wind 50 km h 31 mph Temperature range 0 C to 45 C Hardware Material Carbon structure aluminium gimbal composite drone Dimensions 1120 x 1400 x 530 mm Weight without payload 6 0 kg Max Take Off Weight MTOW 7 5 kg Max ...

Page 67: ...e is a procedure directly integrated in the autopilot When a failsafe occurs a Return To Launch RTL will be triggered The Fox 6 will come back to the vertical of the Take off point and will land automatically Battery If the Battery is lower to 14 3 V during 3 5 sec a Failsafe Battery message will display on Mission Planner dashboard and the autopilot will trigger a RTL Note If the flight height is...

Page 68: ... motors when touching the ground The Fox6 will land at the vertical of his position so make sure the landing area is clean and wait until motor disarming If the landing area is not clean take control of the Fox6 in AltHold or STABILIZE mode and land at a clean area When the fox6 is on the ground disarm the motors by pushing the left stick to the left Pilot control The pilot can also take control o...

Page 69: ...ILIZE manual flight to vertical of the takeoff then land When landing is complete disarm the motor left stick to the left Warning Never push the throttles to zero it will stop the propellers and the Fox will fall In the ground if the motors are not stopping change mode to STABILIZE and push the throttles to zero When motors are stopped disarm the motor left stick to the left ...

Page 70: ...above 30 m or more for mechanical parachute and 10 m or more for pyrotechnical parachute 17 Warranty The Fox6 components and accessories excluding the batteries are covered by a warranty of 1 year Return costs to our office export delivery taxes at your expenses ...

Page 71: ... V1 1 18 Appendix 1 Canon Ixus 160 camera option Ixus 160 installation on Fox6 The camera must be screwed on the gimbal facing forward as shown below Then connect the gimbal micro USB cable to the camera ...

Page 72: ...t the foot of the camera Switch the Ixus 160 ON The camera is ready to use Ixus 160 datasheet Camera features Technical data Camera type 1 2 3 CCD camera Focal lenght 5 mm Frame 5152 x 3864 pixels Image weight 20 MPix Pixel size 1 2 µm Air temperature range 0 C to 45 C ...

Page 73: ...73 V1 1 ...

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