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senseFly EBEE RTK, Extended User Manual

The senseFly EBEE RTK Extended User Manual is a comprehensive guide that provides in-depth instructions for operating and optimizing your EBEE RTK drone. Designed for easy access and understanding, this manual is available for free download from our website, allowing you to make the most of your product's capabilities.

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Maintenance and repair of the

eBee RTK

9.3 Full airframe and sensor inspection

Beyond the general airframe inspection that is performed before every flight, we
recommend that you perform a full airframe and sensor inspection regularly to
keep your drone in good operating condition.

Caution:

The autopilot, sensors and actuators within the Central

Body of the

eBee RTK

are specially calibrated and should only be

modified by your

eBee RTK

reseller. Opening the Central Body of the

eBee RTK

will void the warranty.

The inspection includes the following checks:

Check 1: Motor and Servos

The

eBee RTK

uses a brushless DC motor to turn its propeller and generate thrust.

The servos are the two actuators connected through a servo connection mech-
anism to both ailerons. Damaged actuators can prevent the drone from flying
correctly and thus it is important to ensure their proper functioning.

servo connection

pitot probe

motor

mechanisms

To check the actuators, follow these steps:

1. The motor must be clean and spin smoothly without friction to function

151

Summary of Contents for EBEE RTK

Page 1: ...Extended User Manual eBee RTK Revision 3 December 2014 Copyright 2010 2015 senseFly Ltd ...

Page 2: ... material and workmanship for a period of twelve 12 months from the date of delivery SenseFly Ltd further warrants that the product will perform substantially in accordance with its specification During the warranty period senseFly Ltd s sole liability shall be at senseFly Ltd s sole option either to repair or to replace the defective product with another product or a product with similar spec ifica...

Page 3: ...end of this product s life please do not dispose of this product in your general household waste Instead in order to prevent possible harm to the environment or human health from uncontrolled waste disposal please dispose of this product separately in accordance with your local laws and regulation For more information on the separate collection systems for waste electrical and electronic equipment...

Page 4: ...Cheseaux Lausanne Switzerland Website http www sensefly com Technical support If you have questions about any of your senseFly products Try our Knowledge Base You can find it within my senseFly http my sensefly com Send an email to support sensefly com ...

Page 5: ...ade mapping drone UAV RPAS or UAS It is capable of in flight processing of RTK corrections from most leading brands of GNSS RTK base stations via its supplied eMotion flight control software and ground modem The built in high performance GNSS receiver in the eBeeRTK can process GPS and GLONASS L1 and L2 signals The RTK coordinate correction data it receives via its ground modem enables precise navig...

Page 6: ... 3 2 of Postflight Terra 3D software The eBee RTK requires eMotion 2 4 If you installed eMotion before purchasing your drone check the ver sion and upgrade if necessary You can consult the Release Notes for changes included in more recent versions of the software ...

Page 7: ...packs wing wing eBee central body spare propeller camera user manual ground modem eBee RTK battery charger EPP glue GNSS antenna remote control cables and propeller attachment bands eBee RTK battery charger power adapter camera charger ...

Page 8: ...a including memory card battery and charger 1x USB cable for interfacing with camera and on board autopilot 1x EPP glue 1x eBee RTK User Manual 1x camera User Manual Depending on your order your package may also include other items such as additional payloads Please verify upon delivery that your package is complete In case of a missing item please contact your eBee RTK reseller immediately Cautio...

Page 9: ...TK require a GNSS RTK base station or access to a subscription based Ntrip stream These are not provided in the eBee RTK package Note Camera user manuals are also available to download from our Knowledge Base part of my senseFly http my sensefly com ...

Page 10: ...ra lens hole Detachable wing wing struts GNSS RTK antenna The eBee RTK is an autonomous flying drone comprised of the following compo nents Centralbody This is the core of the eBeeRTK and includes all the electron ics actuators and communications hardware on board the drone Wing The two wings of the eBee RTK are detachable for storage and re placement Each wing has two wing struts and two clips to ...

Page 11: ...ment The eBee RTK is powered by a LiPo Lithium Poly mer battery stored within the battery compartment Caution Proper care of your battery is essential Please read section Proper battery care on page 154 before using your drone for the first time GNSS RTK Antenna The advanced GNSS antenna capable of capturing several GNSS signals is used for navigation and to increase geo tagging precision Camera co...

Page 12: ...t is housed underneath the pitot probe and thus illuminates the entire trans parent probe in various colours depending on the drone s state Ground sensor The ground sensor composed of a high speed optical sensor and lens assembly is used to detect the proximity of the ground ...

Page 13: ... mapping flight and send commands if desired Once your eBeeRTK returns after an aerial mapping flight it is the turn of Postflight Terra 3D to process the captured images fully automatically Postflight Terra 3D is a full featured mapping solution with just a few mouse clicks it can create high qualitygeo referenced2Dand3Dorthomosaicsanddigitalelevation surfacemod els DEM DSM While you are still in the...

Page 14: ......

Page 15: ... flight 28 1 6 Getting ready for a mission 29 2 Setting up RTK 31 2 1 Base station compatibility 31 2 2 Setting up your GNSS RTK base station 31 2 3 Setting up reference points for your GNSS RTK base station 33 2 4 Setting up virtual reference broadcasters 34 3 Using RTK 36 3 1 Using a local base station 36 3 2 Using your eBee RTK with a virtual reference broadcaster 39 3 3 Using your eBee RTK in s...

Page 16: ...67 5 4 Creating advanced mapping products 69 5 5 Transforming coordinates 69 II Advanced functionalities 71 6 Understanding aerial mapping with the eBee RTK 72 6 1 Waypoints and their properties 72 6 2 Advanced polygonal mission area 77 6 3 3D mission planning using elevation data 78 6 4 Flight visualization in Google EarthTM 80 6 5 Autonomous controller and modes of flight 82 6 6 Linear landing 86...

Page 17: ...b 112 7 5 Setup Phase tab 116 7 6 Mission Planning tab 120 7 7 Mission Waypoints tab 129 7 8 Camera tab 131 7 9 Flight Parameters tab 136 8 Manual control of the eBee RTK 140 8 1 Enabling manual control 140 8 2 Pre flight testing of the remote control 142 8 3 Full Manual mode 143 8 4 Assisted Manual mode 144 ...

Page 18: ...Proper battery care 154 10 Troubleshooting 157 10 1 Pre flight errors 158 10 2 Take off vetoes 161 10 3 In flight warnings 163 10 4 Critical failures 176 10 5 Resetting default camera settings 179 10 6 Improving radio signal communication 179 10 7 Losing and locating your eBee RTK in the field 180 10 8 Reporting a problem with your eBee RTK 181 IV Specifications 183 1 Software requirements 184 2 Drone ...

Page 19: ...uting a flight Once planning is complete it is time for the drone to perform its flight In section Executing a flight on page 40 you will learn how to prepare your drone for flight connect it to eMotion and to monitor it in flight while it gathers images Though the eBee RTK can complete a flight fully autonomously from take off to landing you can also modify its flight plan at any point during flight 3 Pro...

Page 20: ...ge of the features of eMotion You can find more information at the following address www google com earth To install eMotion on Windows simply execute the provided installers for eMotion and Postflight Terra 3D and follow the on screen instructions The eMotion and PostflightTerra3Dsoftwarewillbeavailableinthe Start menu DriversfortheUSB groundstationgroundmodemwillautomaticallybeinstalledalongwitheMo...

Page 21: ...han one USB device connected to your PC for example you have a ground modem and GNSS base station choose the ground modem you want to connect to from the list and click OK Other wise just click OK To process flight data you already created select the Flight Data Manager and click OK We recommend that you plan flights using a simulated drone Once connected to a real or simulated drone you will see th...

Page 22: ...nformationincludingtheeBeeRTK s currentaltitude bothAbovetheTake offAltitude markedasATO andAbove Mean Sea Level marked as AMSL battery level flight time and status The Status Panel can be hidden by clicking on the drone Moving around the map is done by clicking and dragging at any place not occupied by a sym bol such as a waypoint or the drone symbol Control Bar The Control Bar is used to issue var...

Page 23: ...eas the Mission Plan ning tab defines the image acquisition portion of the flight plan referred to as the mission phase The last three tabs are used for advanced way point planning and parameter setting You can hide the Sidebar by clicking on its left edge The Sidebar also contains controls for the simulator when connected to a simulated drone Your eBee RTK s operating modes Your eBee RTK can operat...

Page 24: ... processing using raw GNSS RTK base station and reference station files Virtual Reference Station Create DSMs and orthomosaics using reference station networks to achieve very high precision absolute geo tags Used when you want to benefit from the high absoluteprecisionachievablefromsophisticatedNtripnetworks orwhensurvey ing equipment is unavailable or inconvenient Configure your drone s eMotion sof...

Page 25: ...r points in 3D space and a set of actions that can be performed at or in between waypoints such as taking images proceeding to the next waypoint or landing A flight plan is shown in the Map Area using circles to represent way points lines to represent the flight path and arrows to show the direction of flight The large circle with a thick border illustrates the working area boundaries within which th...

Page 26: ... the abil ity to set polygonal mission areas of any size and shape and to au tomatically adjust waypoint altitudes based on elevation data These powerful features are described in more detail in section Advanced polygonal mission area on page 77and section 3D mission planning using elevation data on page 78 respectively Follow these steps to automatically setup waypoints for a mapping mission 1 Se...

Page 27: ...s forests and provides higher image overlap at the cost of a lower resolution Be sure to include an esti mated wind speed and direction as this has an effect on the area that can be covered in a single flight Once again the mission plan preview will be continuously updated as you modify the parameters 4 Check the resulting flight characteristics in the tab Once you are satisfied upload the mission pla...

Page 28: ... eBee RTK when you are in the field Select the Setup Phase tab from the Sidebar click on Save flight plan to file choose a filename and location and click Save 1 5 Simulating your flight Simulating your flight gives you an idea of the position and size of images that will be taken during the flight In addition it allows you to learn to use advanced functions such as in flight waypoint editing and camera c...

Page 29: ...n particular estimates of battery level and reactions to wind are difficult to simu late with high accuracy You should in no case depend on behaviours seen with a simulated drone to be reproduced exactly in real flight 1 6 Getting ready for a mission Before leaving for the field to perform a flight be sure to fully charge all your eBeeRTK batteries Whendelivered theeBeeRTK batterymaynotbefullycharged e...

Page 30: ... the required cell balancing work See section Proper bat terycare onpage154formoreinformationonmaintainingyourdrone sbatteries If you plan on performing a flight away from an Internet connection it is useful to preload map tiles by selecting Download maps from the File menu More details on how to take advantage of the various map sources available in eMotion can be found in section Toolbar on page ...

Page 31: ... for a list of base stations that senseFly has validated and which base eMotion automation features you should expect https sensefly zendesk com entries 105423496 Is my Base Station Compatible with the eBee RTK and eMotion Note This list will change as senseFly enhances eMotion so please refer to this list regularly especially if purchasing a base station or if considering using one with your eBee ...

Page 32: ...cted your base station to your computer Step 7 From the next menu USB or Serial depending on the Connection Type you chose choose your base station Step 8 If you are using a serial connection launch your base station s configura tion tool and use it to check that the serial port configuration Baud Rate and Stop Bits shown in eMotion matches the configuration that your computer is using to connect to ...

Page 33: ...e or downloadableconver sion tools may be available from your base station s manufacturer or a national geodetic society Note that the eBee RTK internal GNSS receiver transforms the GLONASS ellipsoid PZ 90 into WGS 84 You can set up several reference points in eMotion Once in the field you can then quickly change base station position using the Choose RTK Source menu Step 8 Click RTK Setup on the e...

Page 34: ...configure a series of connections to Ntrip streams from public or subscription based broadcasters and set up virtual reference stations VRSs Note A pre configured set of Ntrip broadcasters is available for use in eMotion and you can configure a connection to your own broad caster Before using a subscription based Ntrip stream or an Ntrip stream that requires registration you must first register or sub...

Page 35: ...will try and connect to the server As long as these details are incorrect or incomplete you will see an er ror message on the dialog The list of remote streams only appears when you have entered enough correct details to successfully con nect to the broadcaster Step 7 Scroll through the list of streams Click on a stream to view its details Step 8 Click The stream will be added to the list in the C...

Page 36: ... is displayed on the toolbar Not sufficient eMotion was not sent the data it needs position and correc tion vector Timeout eMotion was getting position and correction data but is no longer OK All is well eMotion is getting position and correction data as expected 3 1 Using a local base station Step 1 Connect your base station to the computer on which you installed eMo tion following your base statio...

Page 37: ...sition is Known Step 3 Choose Above known reference point Step 4 Enter the height above ground of your base station Step 5 Select the reference point Step 6 ClickFinish Abasestationicon appearsonyourmapatthereference point coordinates 37 ...

Page 38: ... icon appears on your map at the base station s coordinates Note The absolute precision of the coordinates obtained from your base station will be greatly improved in post processing Note If the base eMotion automation features that allow eMotion to communicate with the base are unavailable the Set Base Position dialog will appear greyed out and you must set the base s position manually using its ...

Page 39: ...ing your eBee RTK in standalone mode If you do not need high precision absolute image geo tags or RTK corrections from a GNSS RTK base station or Ntrip broadcaster are not available you can fly your eBee RTK in standalone mode From the eMotion Choose RTK Source choose Standalone Now that you have chosen your RTK source or chosen to fly standalone you can plan your mission and launch your real or sim...

Page 40: ...u should be aware of the weather conditions The eBee RTK is a small drone that cannot fly in heavy rain or strong wind conditions In case of doubt make sure to check a weather bulletin including wind estimations in the flight area Note that wind is often stronger at higher altitudes and that the wind perceived at the surface is not always a good reference to estimate the wind at flight altitude Cloud...

Page 41: ...of time In particular leaving the drone exposed to the sun or in a car should be avoided 4 2 Preparing the eBee RTK for flight TheeBeeRTK ssimpledesignmeansitcangofromtheboxtobeingreadyforflight in minutes We recommend that you perform the following 6 steps before every flight to ensure that the platform is best prepared for flight Note Remove the red warning sticker from the motor before your first fli...

Page 42: ...n the Central Body that hold the wing struts are not cracked or damaged in any way Caution It is vital to carefully inspect the wing struts and tubes within the Central Body before every flight as they may cause a crash if they are damaged in any way This is particularly important if the wings were found separated from the Central Body after a previous flight 6 Verify that the power cables within th...

Page 43: ...ying flat against the motor mount and that the rubber bands do not show cracks or any other sign of aging Caution Failure to use two rubber bands may result in the loss of the propeller in flight Note Afterextensiveuse therubberbandsmaydevelopcracks This isnormalandiscausedbytheageingoftherubbermaterial Formax imum security inspect the rubber bands regularly and discard them if they show cracks 10 s...

Page 44: ...the camera connector is not already connected plug it into the connector with the icon on the eBee RTK Caution TheeBeeRTK hasnotbeendesignedtoflywithoutthecam era Attempting to fly without the camera may render the drone un stable which may eventually lead to a crash Some payloads may require a separate battery or SD card to operate properly Please refer to the User Manual of the camera or other pay...

Page 45: ...he wing struts into the re ceptacles in the central body Ensure that the ailerons are properly aligned with the servo connection mechanism before pushing the wings fully into the central body Caution Flying with damaged wing struts or a badly engaged servo connection mechanism may cause erratic flight and ultimately a crash Be sure to properly inspect and attach the wings before flight 45 ...

Page 46: ...ct the battery Lay the eBee RTK horizontally on the ground outside in the vicinity of the take off location with the top face up To install the battery begin by connecting the power cables to the battery Insert the connectors firmly to the end in order to avoid undesired disconnection when in flight Once connected insert the battery into its compartment and close the compartment lid Caution Take care...

Page 47: ...e flight checks may last from a few seconds to several minutes in the case of poor GPS GLONASS signal reception As these satellite signals are required for the checks to complete be sure to place the eBee RTK outside with a clear view of the sky During the pre flight checks the status LED will pulse blue Once the pre flight checks are complete the eBee RTK will flip its ailerons up and down and the st...

Page 48: ... paired with When a connection is established eMotion will display a map and the Status Panel indicating the current state of the drone If the eBee RTK has not yet detected its location the Status Panel will appear in the top right corner of the Map Area with the text GPS GLONASS Waiting for signals During this time the status LED on the drone will pulse blue Once your drone has set its position u...

Page 49: ...lier by selecting the Setup Phase tab from the Sidebar clicking on Load flight plan from file and selecting your flight plan file Alternatively you can plan the entire mission in the field following thesameprocessoutlinedinsection Planningandsimulatingaflight onpage20 49 ...

Page 50: ...the altitude of 0 m ATO ATO stands for above take off the altitudes of all other waypoints when de fined in m ATO are referenced to the altitude of this location Startwaypoint Thefirstpointthatthedronefliestowardswhenlaunched once it reaches the take off transition altitude Home waypoint The safe point for the drone to circle in case of emer gency as well as its landing position at the end of a flight f...

Page 51: ... default and recommended landing type especially in high winds To prepare a Linear landing place the Home waypoint centre at a location that is at the same altitude as the take off location and is clear of ob stacles in a 10 m radius Choose one or several approach sectors that are free of obstacles for at least 60 m from the Home waypoint centre You can drag the ap proachsectoraroundtheHomewaypoint...

Page 52: ...more clearance especially along the possible landing axes If there are no suitable approach sectors to perform a Linear landing the drone can also perform a Circular landing around the Home waypoint When initiating a Circular landing around the Home waypoint the drone will switch off its motor and glide down while circling around the Home waypoint at the waypoint s ra dius During the Circular landi...

Page 53: ...even further than 50 m away from the center of the Home waypoint when performing a Circular landing Therefore it is safer to plan for even more clearance in the downwind direction By default the Home waypoint is set to an altitude of 75 m ATO In case a Go to Home Waypoint procedure is triggered during flight the drone will by default determine the highest altitude between its current altitude and t...

Page 54: ...t all times during the launch procedure no holdin g z o n e d a n ger zone green solid status LED blue pulse status LED Not horizontal Step 1 Orient horizontally and against the wind Orient yourself against the direction of the wind and confirm that the take off direction in front of you is free of obstacles Firmly grasp the drone with both hands one hand on the front of each wing as shown in the fig...

Page 55: ...e drone directly against the wind otherwise it will be unable to gain enough speed during take off and likely crash Likewise launching the drone in high winds above the specified safe wind speed of 12 m s is dangerous and can result in a crash shake 3x no holding z o n e d a n ger zone shake 3x motor startup begin green solid status LED blue pulse status LED Step 2 Switch the motor on Shake the eBee...

Page 56: ...ands in a purely forward motion After take off the drone tries to maintain its initial direction or follow the direc tional take off heading you set by keeping its wings level with full thrust until reaching the take off transition altitude by default 20 m At this point it will switch into waypoint navigation mode and fly towards the Start waypoint Once it reaches the Start waypoint location and altit...

Page 57: ...xecutes its flight A small arrow and infobox show the speed and direc tion of the wind as measured by the eBee RTK The Status Panel that follows the position of the drone displays basic flight information including battery charge flight time and altitude both above the take off location ATO and above mean sea level AMSL This same information is reproduced in the Flight Monitoring tab along with other ...

Page 58: ...eBee RTK will not take a picture unless it is in the cor rect location and altitude Some reasons for not taking an image are strong head wind large off track distance or incorrect altitude A cor responding message is displayed in the Status Panel if a picture is not taken AtthetopoftheMapAreaistheControlBar whichcanbeusedatanytimetosend commandstoyourdroneaswellastoacknowledgewarningandfailuremessa...

Page 59: ...o the wing struts Check the wing struts for any damage before putting them into the storage case Remove the propeller if you don t plan on using the eBee RTK for an extended period of time 4 7 Potential in flight errors The drone can encounter two types of error messages while flying In flight warn ings and Critical failures In flight warnings typically indicate a dangerous situa tion such as a low ba...

Page 60: ...and the drone s reaction to them is described in sec tion In flight warnings on page 163 and section Critical failures on page 176 Note It is important to keep track of the location of the drone during a Critical failure until the moment it reaches the ground Its position s coordinates can aid in finding it afterwards Instructions on how to find a lost drone can be found in section Losing and locatin...

Page 61: ...inates are displayed using the global WGS 84 reference frame When you enter coordinates in eMotion as latitude lon gitude and elevation they are assumed to be in WGS 84 In order to create mapping products for example DSMs orthomosaics in Post flight Terra 3D that have their correct absolute positions with respect to your co ordinate system you must carry out a coordinate transformation Latitude and...

Page 62: ...les from the base station and reference stations eMotion features a Flight Data Manager to help you transfer and consolidate all the data related to a mapping mission Open the Flight Data Manager by clicking on the Flight Data Manager icon when you load eMotion Alternatively click on the button in the Toolbar and select Flight Data Manager click OK select Flight Data Manager The way that eMotion p...

Page 63: ...oncoordinatesorlinkedeMo tion to a fixed reference station As your eBeeRTK was flying eMotion was sending RTK corrections gathered from the Ntrip broadcast to your drone and your drone was logging the precise coordinates of each image it took If you flew your eBee RTK in standalone mode you do not have any RTK cor rections all the flight data you need is stored onboard your drone Follow these steps to...

Page 64: ...er and select Import from SD card reader Alternatively transfer the images from the camera by lifting it out of its compartment just enough to connect a USB cable to it and turn the camera on Copy all the images into a temporary folder on your computer Select Import from a specific folder and choose the temporary folder Step 4 Import flight logs Confirm that the Drone and eMotion Flight Logs found by...

Page 65: ...from a reference station Note If you have a Topcon base station you can import its raw GNSS data through the connection to eMotion Connect your Topcon base station to your computer and choose Import files from base eMotion will look for the raw data files in the default location on the Topcon base station Once complete go to step 4 import reference station files Note Check your base station manufactu...

Page 66: ...time were sufficient to obtain a precise base position Warning Position may remain imprecise Although the raw GNSS data could be processed the combination of base line length and cumulated occupation time may not have been enough to obtain a precise base position Failed Position is incorrect Although valid raw GNSS data was provided it was unsuitable and the calculated base position is incorrect The...

Page 67: ... can be used torapidlycreatea Quality Report directly in the field TheQuality Report that is automatically generated as well as the orthomosaic provide imme diate feedback on the quality of the images gathered during your mission You can open a project for processing in PostflightTerra3D directly from the Flight Data Manager after importing your data by clicking the Open project in Terra button You ...

Page 68: ...cessing checkbox and the Rapid button If you wish to create a low resolution orthomosaic while generating the report check the Orthomosaic and DSM generation checkbox Click Start to begin rapid processing Postflight Terra 3D will now process the data and produce a report that includes the overall completeness and georeference quality of the images taken during your last mission You may use this inf...

Page 69: ...ed flight planning in complex or uneven terrain Note You need to either enable tile set generation OR choose Gen erate Google Maps Tiles and KML from the Process menu before you can push the tileset into eMotion by choosing Send Map to eMotion from the Process menu Alternatively this data can be imported into eMotion choose Import custom map from eMotion s File menu Note The best way to learn how t...

Page 70: ...stem syntax file with extension prj See Knowledge Base article number 73776018 for help with prj file cre ation Step 2 ChooseSelectOutputCoordinateSystemfromthePostflightTerra3DProject menu Step 3 Click From prj browse to the location of your prj file select the file and click Open Step 4 In the Select Output Coordinate System dialog click OK Step 5 Postflight Terra 3D will create mapping products in yo...

Page 71: ...Part II Advanced functionalities ...

Page 72: ...ght 6 1 Waypoints and their properties The eBee RTK uses a flight plan consisting of a list of waypoints to navigate A waypoint essentially consists of a circle about a given position and information that defines how the drone should behave when reaching them The entire list of waypoints is stored in the drone autopilot and can be remotely edited using eMotion from previous waypoint to next waypoint...

Page 73: ...physical limits the drone will reach the destination and keep climbing descending around the destination waypoint This is typi cally used to achieve the best efficiency when the altitude between waypoints is not constrained Before transit The drone will first climb or descend at its current positionuntilitreachesthealtitudeofthecurrentwaypoint andthen flyinthedirectionofthewaypointatitsaltitude Thisis...

Page 74: ...gnificantly deviate from its desired flight path Auto next Indicates whether the drone should remain on the waypoint upon reaching it until a new command is received or automatically con tinue to the next active waypoint Action The action if any to be performed upon reaching the waypoint SupportedactionsincludestartingandstoppingContinuousphotomode Setup phase parameters Start and Home do not have a...

Page 75: ...lected waypoint Traversed flight path Future flight path Inactive flight path Current status Flight path altitude You can modify the waypoint s parameters directly in the Map Area using your mouse using the following actions Position Change the position by left clicking on the waypoint and drag ging it around on the map By default the waypoint snaps to a position in line with the current flight lin...

Page 76: ...rameter of the waypoint Change altitude Set the transition behaviour of the drone when flying towards the selected waypoint Remove waypoint Remove the selected waypoint Anymodificationwillbesentdirectlytothedronetoupdateitsonboardwaypoint list If the message is not acknowledged by the drone for example due to a tem porary loss of communication link the waypoint will move back to its previous positio...

Page 77: ...polygonal mission area is set slightly differently than a rectangular mission area The edges of the rectangle now become vertices of the polygon Left click on a vertex to drag and reposition the vertex Left click and drag anywhere on the edge of the polygon to create a new vertex and reposition it Right click on vertex and select Remove vertex to remove a vertex Alter natively hold down the Ctrl bu...

Page 78: ...y Auto adjust colormap Caution eMotion s default Improved SRTM elevation data uses a 3 arc second approx 90 m resolution digital elevation model derived from the SRTM Shuttle Radar Topography Mission dataset version 2 1 combined with other data sources ASTER GDEM SRTM30 carto graphic data etc This data covers nearly all emerged land except the territories below 56 S latitude and the territory of t...

Page 79: ...ortant to understand that even if each flight line can have a different al titude the altitude is constant along a given flight line If the terrain altitude is uneven along a flight line the resulting imagery will have varying ground resolu tion and overlap When the mission planner computes the altitudes of flight lines it tries to ensure that the required amount of overlap is achieved possibly lead in...

Page 80: ...n uses the top most el evation data layer to calculate altitude for each waypoint and flight line with eMotion s default Improved SRTM elevation dataset always considered the bot tom layer Custom elevation data Network cache 6 4 Flight visualization in Google EarthTM eMotion includes an interface with Google EarthTM to help with flight plan verifi cation and visualization particularly in uneven terra...

Page 81: ...as to be installed on the ground station PC as described in section Installing eMotion Post flight Terra 3D and the ground modem drivers on page 20 We rec ommend to use the latest version of the Google EarthTM software Caution A flight trajectory visualized in Google EarthTM represents the planned trajectory The real flight trajectory can be different from the planned due to flight conditions such as s...

Page 82: ...mission is enabled Emergency Landing Full Manual Assisted Manual Autonomous operation modes Manual and emergency modes Linear Landing if Linear landing selected plug in battery During a typical flight the autonomous controller on the eBee RTK will switch be tween various modes depending on its flight plan and the commands that it re ceives from the Control Bar The controller changes between modes du...

Page 83: ...ar typically a START MISSION command that is sent once a flight plan is finalized WhileinPerformMissionmodethedronefliesbetweenallenabledmission waypoints taking images of the ground below Once it reaches the final mission waypoint the drone either heads towards the Home waypoint if Land or Go to Home way point is selected in the After mission panel of the Setup Phase tab and changes to Circle Home Wa...

Page 84: ...de depending on the setting in the Flight Pa rameters tab Turning off the remote control will return the drone to its previous mode Clicking the HOLD POSITION button in the Control Bar at any time will cause the drone to start circling its current position and change to Hold Position mode until it receives a new command from the Control Bar Alter natively right clicking in the Map Area and selectin...

Page 85: ...Understanding aerial mapping with the eBee RTK current location with its motor disabled and change to Emergency Land ing mode 85 ...

Page 86: ...e of 75 m above the landing altitude 3 Thedronecirclestoestimatethewindspeedanddirection Anapproachdi rectionisthencalculatedasclosetotheupwinddirectionaspossiblewithin the allowable approach sectors defined by the user within eMotion 4 The drone flies downwind against the approach direction After flying for a sufficient distance it turns around to align itself with the approach direc tion 5 The drone ...

Page 87: ... 7 Final brake at 3m 8 Deep stall to ground 6 Start level out at 20m approach sectors Home waypoint calculated upwind approach direction calculated downwind direction estimated wind direction Home waypoint 1 Aproach Home waypoint 2 Descend to 75m above landing altitude measure wind Linear landing procedure seen from the side Linear landing procedure seen from above within eMotion 2 75m above landi...

Page 88: ... converted to AMSL instead of ATO by default 75m above the landing location Caution Incorrectly setting the altitude of the Linear landing loca tion will decrease the accuracy of the Linear landing and may result in damage to the eBee RTK A Linear landing can only be performed over flat terrain Ensure that the ground is flat and at the same altitude as the Linear landing location for a distance of a...

Page 89: ...aLinearlandingagainst the direction of the wind Approach sectors should be as large as possible and in as many directions as possible to allow the drone to select the opti mal approach direction based on its estimate of the wind If all of the avail able approach sectors are in the direction of the wind an In flight warning will appear in eMotion when the drone calculates its trajectory Step 3 Cauti...

Page 90: ...finethedirectionsaroundtheHomewaypointthatarecom pletely clear of obstacles You can add additional approach sectors from within the Setup Phase tab These approach sectors will be used by the drone to plan its landing path while taking into account the wind Defining multiple possible approachsectorscanincreasethechancethatthedroneselectsafavourableland ing against the direction of the wind Be sure th...

Page 91: ...the Control Bar before completion the drone will turn on its motor in full thrust and gain altitude while continuing in a straight line in its approach direc tion Once the altitude of 40 m ATO is reached the drone will turn towards the Home waypoint and continue climbing until it reaches an altitude of 75 m ATO It then continues circling until it receives a further command Caution Do not abort a L...

Page 92: ...tically changingthealtitudeoftheStartandHomewaypointsforeachdroneinor der to separate them Also the drones are automatically put on hold when there is a collision risk during the mission When connecting to more than one drone at a time real or simulated a dedi cated Multi drone Panel is displayed next to the Sidebar Each drone is displayed with its name battery level and status and can be selected...

Page 93: ...his procedure 1 Go to the Mission Planning tab and prepare the required mission area this can be done with any of the connected drone selected Make sure that the number of flights required matches the number of connected drones If needed the Max flight time option can be lowered to force the mission planner to split the mission in several flights see section Mission Planning tab on page 120 2 Select ...

Page 94: ...Start waypoint is synchronised eMotion will usethesamelocationandaltitudefortheStartwaypointofeachconnected drone Every modification to the Start waypoint of one drone is thus trans ferred to all other drones To prevent collisions between drones eMotion willautomaticallycreatea stack byincrementingthe altitudeof eachdrone that is currently circling the Start waypoints to ensure a 15 m separation Th...

Page 95: ...connected drones Simulator When checked repositioning a simulated drone on the map will reposition all simulated drones at the same time In addition to the altitude separation on the Start and Home waypoints described above eMotion provides two traffic control mechanisms to help avoid collision between drones in flight Proximity warning When enabled a visual and audible warning will be emitted if two...

Page 96: ... position and even the con trol of a drone across a local area network eMotion provides the following Net work sharing options Allow other computers to see my drones All computers that are run ning eMotion and are connected to the same network will be able to dis play the position status and other parameters of the drones connected to your computer Allow other computers to control my drones All dr...

Page 97: ... itself and capture the image using a patent pending pitch down manoeuvre Capturing an oblique image can be done easily by following these steps 1 Add a new photo target by clicking on the button in the Camera tab Use the cross hairs to place the photo target on the location of interest in the Map Area You may also right click anywhere in the Map Area and select Add photo target here from the cont...

Page 98: ... off altitude You may use elevation data to define this altitude by enabling the Use elevation data to set absolute photo target altitudes checkbox Repeat the above steps to define multiple photo targets After launching your drone click on the Begin sequence button in the Camera tab at any time to begin taking the images The eBee RTK will fly to the location of the first photo location measure the wind...

Page 99: ...a series of emergency manoeuvres Land now The drone immediately initiates a circular landing around a 30 m radius waypoint at its current location Abort landing The drone aborts its landing climbs up to a safe altitude and circles waiting for a command See section Linear landing on page 86 for more details Roll The drone performs a roll along a linear flight path then resumes its mis sion Fast clim...

Page 100: ...1 Choose Preferences from the File menu 2 Choose the User interface pane 3 IntheAdvancedbuttonspanel checkthemanoeuvresyouwanttoactivate and click OK Buttons that trigger the manoeuvres are added to the Control Bar Note Totriggerthe landnow manoeuvre clickthelandnowbutton 3 times in quick succession within half a second A landing can only be aborted in the absence of critical failure 100 ...

Page 101: ...thority or wildlife conservation as sociation before flying in sensitive areas Avoid flying near known nesting sites especially when young are present in spring or early summer Rather than disturb the birds consider flying at a different time of year or adapting your flight plan to minimise your impact on wildlife Flight planning oversights You have moved the home waypoint on uneven terrain but you hav...

Page 102: ...not carry out a fast climb or fast descent if this would risk flying close to trees or other obstacles Caution Some of these manoeuvres will cause a loss in altitude To avoid crashing your drone do not carry out several emergency ma noeuvres in quick succession Allow your drone to stabilise its flight and altitude after each manoeuvre Caution While your drone is carrying out an emergency manoeu vre ...

Page 103: ...ur senseFly mini drones This section includes a com prehensiveguidetoallthefunctionalitiesineMotiontohelpyouplan simulate and monitor your next mapping flight Sidebar Map Area Control Bar Toolbar Status Panel Flight Parameters tab Camera tab Mission Waypoints tab Mission Planning tab Setup Phase tab Flight Monitoring tab 103 ...

Page 104: ...Toolbar The Sidebar is separated into six individual tabs that are used during different phases of planning and monitoring a flight The Sidebar tabs can be hidden at any time by clicking on the left hand edge of the Sidebar Each tab is described in detail in the following chapter The Sidebar also contains controls for the Sim ulator section Simulator on page 107 7 1 Toolbar Map source Zoom Custom ma...

Page 105: ... field If you anticipate the use of eMotion in conditions where connecting to Internet is impossible you can preload the map data by selecting Download maps from the File menu Follow the instructions in the dialog box to select the zone of interest map tile source and start downloading eMotion can also import and display custom layers which may include KML files custom map tiles and elevation data T...

Page 106: ...ed with the drone s colour and displayed in the Map Area This polygon rep resents an estimate of the area that has been photographed by the drone The footprints can be shown or hidden using the button When hidden the footprintsarekeptinmemoryandnewphotoscontinuetobe recorded butnoth ing is displayed in the Map Area Footprints for all drones remain in the memory of eMotion even when a drone is disc...

Page 107: ...ourself with your eBee RTK and its features will allow you to more efficiently plan and execute mapping flights saving you time and improve your imaging results The Simulator in eMotion is designed to help you test the various features of the drone and to better prepare a mapping mission before perform ing it in the field Several simulated drones can be connected at the same time allowing you to test ...

Page 108: ...or unexpected circumstances while in the field Table 1 Simulator bar buttons Button Description Pause Clicking the pause button will pause the simulation and thus stop the drone while in flight This can be useful when you wish to change parameters or way points while the drone is already in flight Note this is a simulated action that is not possible with the real eBee RTK Instead of pausing while in ...

Page 109: ...s a take off procedure including the motor power up sequence and the hand launch Instantrechargeof battery Clicking this button will instantly recharge the bat tery of the drone Note This is a simulated action that is not possible with the real eBee RTK while it is in flight Wind speed and direction Thesefieldsareusedtoinputasimulatedwindspeed and direction A random wind speed and direction is set wh...

Page 110: ...ilures button text changes to CRIT ICAL FAILURE and cannot be clicked START MISSION No active Security action Fly towards the first active waypoint in the waypoint list and start the mission from the beginning RESUME MISSION Not in Perform Mission mode Return to the last position reached during the mission and continue the flight plan GO TO START WPT No active Security action Fly towards the Start w...

Page 111: ... current location Must be clicked 3 times in quick succession to be engaged ABORT LANDING During Cir cular Land ing Linear Landing or Emergency Landing mode if no active Critical failure Circular or Linear landing abort current landing procedure return to the altitude of the Home waypoint circle the Home way point and wait for next command Emergency landing only available if there is no active Cri...

Page 112: ...e eBee RTK during a mapping mission and is the default tab that is displayed when you click anywhere on the map area that does not have a symbol The tab is split into the following sections Drone Status The status of the plane keeps you informed on what the drone is currently doing This can include mission actions such as Taking photo or Going to waypoint as well as warning or failure messages suc...

Page 113: ... modem and the drone The strength and direction of the wind estimated by the drone is displayed with an arrow Caution Lithium polymer batteries are chemical devices whose per formance depends on a number of parameters including tempera ture lifetime number of cycles mechanical integrity etc Estimating the remaining capacity of a battery can thus be tricky and the dis played value may occasionally ...

Page 114: ...in metres per second The column on the right displays the drone s current altitude over take off lo cation as well as the desired altitude over the take off location in metres The bar at the top displays the current heading of the drone North is indicated as 0 East as 90 South as 180 and West as 270 Identification This displays the serial number of your eBee RTK and the number of the Drone Flight log...

Page 115: ...eMotion in depth guide AdvancedInstruments Thissection displaysthe currentinternaltemper ature of the drone the number of GPS GLONASS signals detected and the estimated accuracy of the the position 115 ...

Page 116: ...up phase reset The Setup Phase tab is used to define the setup phase of a flight plan This phase includes the definition of the Home and Start waypoints and the actions to be taken before and after the mission phase of the flight plan The Setup Phase tab is divided into the following sections Take offparameters You can predefine a take off heading and transition 116 ...

Page 117: ...nd the take off transition altitude in the Setup Phase tab Default value Unchecked Heading 0 Transition altitude 20m ATO Caution Setting the take off transition altitude too low may cause the drone to perform a change of direction too early and may result in a crash Setting the take off transition altitude too high may cause the drone to drift sideways after take off if there is too much wind Start wa...

Page 118: ...Here you set the position change altitude parameter altitude in m ATO or m AMSL if Land at a different altitude than take off is selected turn direction and radius of the Home waypoint You can set the location by clicking the button and clicking on the desired location in the Map Area Default values Change altitude Keep highest Altitude 75 m ATO Turn direction anticlockwise Radius 30 m Location posi...

Page 119: ...currently loaded in the drone Flight plan actions A complete flight plan includes all the Setup phase Start and Home waypoints Take off and Landing parameters etc Mis sion phase waypoints Camera camera model photo targets etc and Flight working area radius and ceiling Security actions etc parameters The Reset flight plan resets the current flight plan to default parameters The Load flight plan from file...

Page 120: ...ce generated flight lines Note The quality of the output orthomosaic is usually lower on the outer edges of the area that is photographed as there is less overlap between images The area photographed is thus always calculated to be bigger than the mission area selected so as to ensure maximum image overlap within the mission area itself Note If there is no flight plan overlaid on the mission area r...

Page 121: ...ission Difficult terrain Clicking this button will fill in preset values to the rest of the parameters The Difficult terrain preset is meant for imaging terrain withcomplexfeaturessuchasforests Highimageoverlapisrecommended to increase the amount of features that can be matched between images though at the cost of lower image resolution due to higher altitude Easyterrain default Thispresetismeantforsim...

Page 122: ... 77 Default value Rectangular Groundresolution Thetargetgroundresolutiontobeachieved expressed in centimetres per pixel This parameter is directly linked to the flight al titude a higher resolution few cm px requires a lower altitude while a lower resolution many cm px requires a higher one Default value 4 0 cm px Camera The camera payload that is currently selected Make sure the correct camera mod...

Page 123: ... Default value disabled Lateral overlap The percentage of overlap between the ground coverage of pictures from adjacent flight lines For most mapping purposes a mini mum of 50 is usually required Higher coverage values may increase the mapping quality but will increase the flight duration Default value 60 Longitudinal overlap The percentage of overlap between the ground coverage of pictures taken co...

Page 124: ...ning for a second area to be covered in the same flight the After previous button sets the starting waypoint after the waypoints used for the previous area Default value 1 Wind estimate The estimated wind speed and direction Incorrectly set ting the windspeed affects the estimated flight time of the eBee RTK and may cause it to return to Home before completing the desired flight plan Clicking the Use ...

Page 125: ...ires multiple flights Note that this saves only the mission area shape and location along with the as sociated mission and image parameters not the actual list of waypoints that is then generated or the camera payload model used to calculate the mission plan Load last used mission area Clicking will load the last mission area that was successfully uploaded to an eBee RTK autopilot whether it was a ...

Page 126: ...assuming a fully charged battery and an accurate wind estimate Flight time This is the estimated flight time for each of the flights Total flight distance The total distance that will be flown during all of the flights Total ground coverage The total area that will be mapped during all of the flights Number of flight lines The total number of flight lines in the mission phase of the flight plan not includi...

Page 127: ...n the top most elevation data layer 3D flight planning only Min flight lines altitude above elevation data Minimum altitude differ ence between a flight line and the ground altitude based on the top most elevation data layer 3D flight planning only Distance between photos The required distance between each consec utive photo taken in the same flight line calculated using the Longitudinal overlap Ground ...

Page 128: ... elevation data sources being used to calcu late the altitudes of the waypoints This can be either the default Improved SRTM within eMotion or imported custom data sets depending on which one is activated and is at the top of the list in the Elevation data Preference pane The flight characteristics are updated automatically as you modify the mission area in the Map Area or the parameters in the firs...

Page 129: ...ach mission waypoint Clicking on a mission waypoint in the list or in the Map Area will expand the panel to display all the parameters related to that waypoint These parameters are ex plained in detail in section Waypoints and their properties on page 72 Changes made to the selected waypoint are sent to the drone immediately after selecting an item in the popup menu or upon hitting the Enter key i...

Page 130: ...You can add new waypoints by clicking the button or by right clicking on the Map Area and selecting Add waypoint here Clicking the button will remove all mission waypoints from the drone Note All modifications made to the waypoint list will be lost when the drone is switched off unless the list is explicitly saved into the au topilot using the Save flight plan in drone button in the Setup Phase tab s...

Page 131: ...o targets New photo target increment Individual photos The camera tab is an advanced tab that can be used to precisely control the func tioning of the camera It also contains controls for taking oblique imagery It is split into several sections Camera model Photo targets Camera control and Camera parameters for mapping 131 ...

Page 132: ...equence Clicking the button will add a new photo target You can set the location by using the cross hairs and clicking in the Map Area By default the location of a new photo target is the same as the previous one in the list Clicking the will remove all photo targets from the sequence list Each photo target has the following properties Change altitude The way the drone transitions to the altitude ...

Page 133: ...meters respectively Default value Heading increment 0 Pitch increment 0 Automatically reset target altitude based on elevation data Check this box to use elevation data to set the absolute photo target altitudes If this box is unchecked photo targets are presumed to be at the same al titude as the take off location Default value disabled The Camera control section has the following functions Take p...

Page 134: ...e to slow down every time it takes an image losing altitude and decreasing flight time and longitudinal overlap Decrease the pitch angle down to 0 can capture more vertical images of the ground if mapping precision at low altitudes is of utmost importance However decreasing this angle will cause the drone to lose altitude with each image taken requiring it to return to the target altitude before ta...

Page 135: ...ther options Save parameters as default in drone Saves the currently set camera pa rameters to the eBee RTK s autopilot s memory Restore factory parameters Returns the parameters to their default val ues and automatically send them to the drone s autopilot 135 ...

Page 136: ...light parameters section includes the following items Working area radius This is the radius of the working area around the take off location Flyingoutsideofthisareawillcreateawarningandcause the drone to return to the Home waypoint Default value 500 m Working area ceiling This is the maximum altitude above the take off location at which the drone can fly Flying above this altitude will create a warn...

Page 137: ...nd strength return to Home waypoint Un checking this box will disable the Security action however the drone will continue to estimate the wind strength and direction and the In flight warning will continue to appear Default value checked Caution The eBee RTK is not designed to fly in winds above 12 m s Flying in high wind conditions increases the chances of a crash that may damage the drone and is d...

Page 138: ...RTK fea turesagroundsensorthatcontinuouslychecksthepresenceoftheground If this box is checked and the ground sensor detects a height above the ground of less than 30 m the drone will climb to a safe height of 60 m be fore continuing the mission Default value checked Use ground sensor for landing The eBee RTK uses its ground sensor to gether with its estimate of the wind speed during its landing ma...

Page 139: ...nformation specific to your eBee RTK This includes the current firmware and bootloader versions loaded into the au topilot the serial numbers of the airframe and the autopilot the total number of flights performed by drone and the total time spent in the air Note The flight counter is incremented every time the take off pro cedure is initiated by shaking the eBee RTK back and forth 3 times even if take...

Page 140: ...topilot by switching to one of two available manual modes Full Manual or Assisted Manual In Full Manual mode the sticks of the remote control directly set the motor power and the angle of the ailerons of the drone In Assisted Manual mode the sticks of the remote control are used to set the speed turn rate and climb or sink rate Note Ensure that the Ignore RC signals option in the Flight Param eter...

Page 141: ... sink rate FM Full Manual AM Assisted Manual right stick left stick on manual off auto trim dials Caution The remote control is preconfigured for use with the eBeeRTK Inparticular thetrimdials usedtofinelyadjusttheposition of the drone s ailerons are calibrated to ensure optimal flight char acteristics and should not be adjusted Changing the remote con trol s configuration including the trim settings ...

Page 142: ...f the eBee RTK is now controlled by the remote control and will begin spinning if the left stick is pushed up Always keep the area around the propeller clear of obstacles and body parts to prevent injury 4 Move the right stick on the remote control to verify proper reception by the drone and correct servo direction 5 Turn off the remote control for take off Note If the remote control is switched on ...

Page 143: ...ish to take off in Full Manual mode however you must use the following steps 1 Prepare the drone for flight as described in section Preparing the eBee RTK for flight on page 41 while keeping the remote control turned off and the left stick at its lowest position 2 Turn on the remote control You now have manual control over the main thrust motor and the servo motors Caution The motor of the drone is no...

Page 144: ...nals for the individual actuators by the autopilot based on feedback from its sensors This control scheme simplifies control of the eBee RTK Caution Though it may be easier to fly the eBee RTK manually when in Assisted Manual mode it remains dangerous and should be used withcare Inparticular thepilotmuststillbeawareofobstaclesinthe area the altitude of the ground the inversion of control commands wh...

Page 145: ...rol unless you are ready to manually control the drone right after take off To perform a manual landing we recommend the following procedure 1 The drone should always perform a linear landings into the wind Face the downwind direction and confirm that there are no obstacles in an area of at least 100 m downwind and a width of 20 m in either direction from down wind 2 Set the drone to an altitude of ...

Page 146: ...Advanced functionalities 7 Oncethedroneisaround5 10mfromthelandinglocation cutmotorpower using the left stick and allow the drone to glide down to the ground 146 ...

Page 147: ...Part III Maintenance Repair and Troubleshooting ...

Page 148: ...rsion of the software Caution We are constantly working to improve the performance of our products and we are dedicated to providing our customers with the newest software as soon as it becomes available Since the high est level of flight safety can only be achieved with the latest software release senseFly Ltd can only offer warranty service for products that have been properly updated To upgrade e...

Page 149: ... asshowninthefigure Theconnector is beside the camera connector and is marked with a icon The status LED will turn white as soon as you connect the cable connect USB cable to autopilot 3 Click the icon and select Updater eBee RTK 4 Click Update to begin the updating process Wait until the process is com plete which is indicated by the text File downloaded successfully also available in the Windows ...

Page 150: ... drone and eMotion have the same software version for them to work properly together Make sure that you keep both up to date To check which version of eMotion you have installed use the About eMotion item in the Window menu The eBee RTK firmware version can be seen in the Flight Parameters tab once connected see section Flight Parameters tab on page 136 9 2 Cleaning and storage Useadampclothtowipeo...

Page 151: ...your eBee RTK reseller Opening the Central Body of the eBee RTK will void the warranty The inspection includes the following checks Check 1 Motor and Servos The eBee RTK uses a brushless DC motor to turn its propeller and generate thrust The servos are the two actuators connected through a servo connection mech anism to both ailerons Damaged actuators can prevent the drone from flying correctly and...

Page 152: ...an ual control and that the Ignore RC signals setting is not checked 5 Switch the remote control on 6 Move the right stick on the remote control and check the aileron motion The ailerons must smoothly and quickly follow the stick When the stick is notmoved theaileronsmuststaystill Whentravellingfromoneendtothe other fast or slow the ailerons must smoothly follow without twitching 7 Hold down the d...

Page 153: ...droneisnotmoving Incaseofdoubt takeashortvideo andfollowtheinstructionsinsection ReportingaproblemwithyoureBeeRTK on page 181 for advice Check 3 Barometric pressure sensor The barometric pressure sensor is used to measure the altitude from the take off location To check it follow these steps 1 Switch the eBee RTK on by connecting the battery and connect to eMotion 2 Move the drone from your feet to...

Page 154: ...Monitoring tab of eMotion that should easily reach values above 8 m s Check 5 Ground sensor The ground sensor is composed of a high speed optical sensor and a lens assem bly The lens assembly must be clean and unobstructed for the sensor to work correctly 9 4 Repairing the eBee RTK airframe Small repairs of cracks in the airframe can be done using contact glue such as UHU POR glue Take care to use...

Page 155: ...l three cells and only attempts charging if they are within limits If the cells are out of balance the charger will take care of balancing them If the charger detects a voltage outside of the allowable range it will indicate an error either by flashing the status LED red or by the LED staying off This means that the battery is over discharged and should be discarded Caution The batteries delivered w...

Page 156: ...rsibly damaged and becomes dangerous to charge If the battery grows beyond its regular size or if any of the cells are punctured it is also likely damaged and should be discarded Forcefully charging a damaged battery may lead it to take fire Do not attempt to charge an over discharged or damaged battery Dispose of the battery safely 156 ...

Page 157: ...ur eBee RTK reseller The eBeeRTK can generate several types of error messages depending on its flight mode Some of these messages are minor and simply need to be acknowledged through eMotion whereas others require more specific action from the user As longasthedroneisconnectedtoeMotion errormessageswillappearintheStatus PanelintheMapArea aswellasintheDroneStatuspaneloftheFlightMonitoring tab ACK WAR...

Page 158: ...mware using instructions in section Updating the eBeeRTK software on page 148 If an error persists after reconnect ing the battery several times we recommend you report the problem by following the instructions in section Reporting a problem with your eBeeRTK on page 181 Table 3 Pre flight errors eMotion text Description and User action Incorrect firmware detected There is an error with the current ...

Page 159: ...netometer malfunction There is an error with the drone s magnetic field sen sor User action Re connect the battery If the problem persists contact your eBee RTK reseller EEPROM malfunction There is an error with the memory chip of the drone s autopilot User action Re connect the battery If the problem persists contact your eBee RTK reseller Barometer malfunction There is an error with the drone s b...

Page 160: ... the problem contact your eBeeRTK re seller Ground sensor malfunction There is an error with the drone s ground sensor User action Ensure that the ground sensor on the bottom of the drone is clear of debris and is not dam aged then re connect the battery If the problem persists performCheck4insection Fullairframeand sensor inspection on page 151 If this does not solve the problem contact your eBee...

Page 161: ...ake off procedure it displays a Take off veto in eMotion and the status LED changes to a blue pulse Once the Take off veto is cleared the status LED returns to a solid green colour to indicate that the drone is ready for take off Table 4 on the next page presents all the Take off vetoes that may occur and pos sible actions to remove the veto If a veto persists after performing the suggested action we r...

Page 162: ...ted The drone s wings are not attached correctly or the wing struts are damaged User action Ensure that the wings are fully inserted into the main body and that the wing struts are not damaged as described in section Preparing the eBee RTK for flight on page 41 USB cable detected The eBee RTK has detected a USB cable connected to the drone s autopilot User action Remove the USB cable before take off...

Page 163: ...ty The full list of possible In flight warnings and required User actions can be found in table 5 on the following page The In flight warnings marked with a can have their Security actions disabled whereas the In flight warnings marked with a can have both the warning and the Security action disabled See section Flight Parameters tab on page 136 for instructions on disabling warnings and Security act...

Page 164: ...e failure condition is no longer present before acknowledging the error and continuing normal operation Low battery Theremainingbatterylevelistoolowtocontinuethe flight plan Security action The eBee RTK flies towards the Home waypoint at an altitude defined by the Home waypoint s Change altitude parameter by default set to Highest and automatically initiates an expe dited landing procedure without pe...

Page 165: ...nt type Security action The drone flies towards the Home waypoint at an altitude defined by the Home way point s Change altitude parameter by default set to Highest User action Land as soon as possible and re start the drone If the problem persists contact your eBee RTK reseller Camera sync malfunction There is a problem with the wiring of the on board camera Security action If required parameter se...

Page 166: ...action Land as soon as possible Check the ca ble connection between the camera and the drone and charge all the batteries before performing an other flight Barometer malfunction The barometer used to sense the current altitude is malfunctioning Security action The drone flies towards the Home waypoint at an altitude defined by the Home waypoint s Change altitude parameter by default set to Highest us...

Page 167: ...sible and perform Check 1 in section Full airframe and sensor inspec tion on page 151 Battery malfunction The sensor used to measure the battery voltage and current is registering invalid values indicating that the sensor is de calibrated or damaged Security action The drone flies towards the Home waypoint at an altitude defined by the Home way point s Change altitude parameter by default set to Hig...

Page 168: ...reachesthe Home waypoint it initiates a landing procedure User action Try to provide a maximum amount of approach sectors to ensure that the drone can land against the direction of the wind Land as soon as possibleandperformCheck4insection Fullairframe and sensor inspection on page 151 Low airspeed Detected airspeed is unusually low or close to zero This may be due to a collision with the ground o...

Page 169: ...d sensor used to detect the proximity of the ground is malfunctioning Security action The drone continues normal flight User action Land as soon as possible and perform Check 5 in section Full airframe and sensor inspec tion on page 151 Wings detection malfunction The sensor used to detect the presence of the wings malfunctioning Security action The drone continues normal flight User action Land as ...

Page 170: ...de temperature is above 35 C or below 10 C dis connect the battery and wait until the temperature changes to within these limits Above working area ceiling The drone has passed the vertical boundary of the working area defined by the working area ceiling This may occur if waypoint altitudes are set close to or outside the working area or due to strong wind Security action The drone flies towards the...

Page 171: ...ction Limit the planned flight path within the working area boundaries Far outside of working area The drone has passed far outside of the working area This may be caused by very high winds or due to me chanical failure Securityaction The drone tries to orient itself in the directionoftheHomewaypointandbeginsdescend ing immediately until it lands on the ground or re turns within the working area Us...

Page 172: ...on if enabled The drone flies to wards the Home waypoint at an altitude defined by the Home waypoint s Change altitude parameter by default set to Highest User action If this occurs once or twice click ACK WARNING andcontinuenormalflight Ifthiswarning appearsmoreoften landassoonaspossibleandwait for better conditions for satellite signal reception Al ternatively moveawayfromobjectsthatmaydisturb sate...

Page 173: ...y following the instructions in section Improving radio signal communication on page 179 Ground proximity detected if enabled The ground sensor on the drone has detected a ground height above the ground of less than 30 m during normal flight Note this feature should not be depended on for avoiding obstacles as the ground sensor may fail to detect obstacles in cer tain environmental conditions Secur...

Page 174: ...creased pre cision in the landing location User action Be ready for the drone to overshoot its planning Linear landing location by preparing a larger obstacle free zone around the location Back wind landing precision decreased in blue There are no approach sectors available against the direction of the wind The eBee RTK has calculated a Linear landing approach direction in the direction of the win...

Page 175: ...t conditions Cannot maintain altitude The eBee RTK cannot maintain the altitude that is commanded by the flight controller This may be due to a damaged motor airframe or ailerons or a strong vertical wind Security action The drone continues normal flight User action If the condition persists during a flight land and wait for the wind to decrease as explained in section Weather check on page 40 If the...

Page 176: ...f normal flight This is the most serious type of error that can occur with the eBee RTK and is indicated in red in eMotion The WARNING button in the Control Bar changes to CRITICAL FAILURE becomes red and cannot be acknowledged When a critical failure occurs flight is aborted and the drone initiates an Emer gency action in which it is immediately directed to the ground The Emergency action for each ...

Page 177: ...drone may bepushedfarfromitscurrentposition Ifsatellitesig nals are re acquired the drone will abort the landing procedure and go to the Home waypoint Failure empty battery The battery is completely empty Emergency action The drone turns off its motor and glides towards the ground in the direction of the Home waypoint This error is always preceded by a Low battery In flight warning Failure INS malfu...

Page 178: ...tinuously trying to re start the mo tor If motor re start is successful the drone cancels the landing and flies towards the Home waypoint at an altitude defined by the Home waypoint s Change altitude parameter by default set to Highest Failure CPU Over load The autopilot processor is overloaded and can no longer control flight The drone turns off its motor and fully deflects its ailerons which results ...

Page 179: ...cally return to the Home waypoint when this warning appears select the corresponding option in the Flight Parameters tab If there are no more messages received by eMotion from the drone downlink di rection a Data downlink lost message will appear in eMotion If there is still an activeuplinkconnectionyoumaystillcommandyourdronetoreturntotheHome waypoint using the Control Bar Data connection range c...

Page 180: ...an accidental collision use the following steps to try to recover it 1 Do not disconnect the connection in eMotion If it is simply out of commu nication range the drone should reconnect automatically as it returns to the Home waypoint after completing its mission 2 Note the last known location of the drone in eMotion by printing the screen or writing down the location displayed in the Flight Monit...

Page 181: ... your eBee RTK reseller Please include the following information with your inquiry The serial number of your drone in the format EB XX XXX You can find this number inside the battery enclosure A short description of the problem The Drone Flight Log file of the flight that had a problem The eMotion Flight Log file of the flight that had a problem You can find this file in the eMotion logs directory which ...

Page 182: ......

Page 183: ...Part IV Specifications ...

Page 184: ...ge space Screen recommended resolution 1920 1080 visible outdoors Postflight Terra 3D has the following minimum software requirements Operating system Windows XP Vista 7 8 64 bit only Hardware 1 6 GHz processor 2 GHz Intel i5 i7 Xeon recommended 4 GB RAM 16 GB recommended for large projects 10 GB free storage space 1 TB recommended for large projects Screen min resolution 1024 768 184 ...

Page 185: ...camera Propulsion Electric brushless motor Nominal static thrust 0 63 kgf 6 2 N Nominal cruise speed 40 90 km h 11 25 m s or 25 56 mph Wind resistance up to 45 km h 12 m s Max single flight coverage 8 km2 3 mi2 on a single battery charge can vary greatly depending on external factors such as wind altitude change and temperature calculated based on the following test conditions GSD of 30 cm 11 8 in ...

Page 186: ...on Up to 50 waypoints GSD per pixel Down to 5 cm 2 0 in Absolute horizontal Down to 3 cm 1 2 in accuracy no GCPs required Absolute vertical Down to 5 cm 2 0 in accuracy no GCPs required Relative orthomosaic 1 3 times GSD 3D model accuracy Carry case dimensions 55 x 45 x 25 cm 21 6 x 17 7 x 9 8 in can vary greatly depending on external factors such as cruise altitude presence of obstacles and radio...

Page 187: ...ber of channels 226 Signal tracked GPS L1 L2 GLONASS L1 L2 Onboard RTK correction 20 Hz Upstream correction 1 Hz RTK data transmission protocols RTCM 3 x RTCM 2 x Acquisition time Hot start 10 s Warm start 35 s Cold start 60 s Reacquisition 1 s 187 ...

Page 188: ...DI cables allow serial connections through a USB cable eMotion uses FTDI technology to connect to the ground modem You can often connect a computer to a GNSS base station using FTDI GCP Ground Control Point A location or object on the ground that has precisely know coordinates GCPs are used to improve the precision of DSMs created from photogram metric analysis of a series of images geo reference ...

Page 189: ...the Internet orthomosaic A single corrected image constructed either from several images taken from different angles or from several orthophotos Distortions due to different camera positions ground curvature and relief are corrected for so that the image displays accurately in the given map projection photogrammetry Atechniqueinwhichmeasurementstakenfromphotographs are used to reconstruct a 3D surfa...

Page 190: ... of coordinates calculated from GNSS signals triangle model An approximate representation of a surface constructed from connected triangles UAS Unmanned Aircraft System A term used for drones or RPASs the software and technology they use to navigate UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Another term for drone VRS Virtual Reference Station A reference station that does not exist on the ground but instead is ...

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