throttle up Increase speed and altitude.

throttle down Decrease speed and altitude.

throttle fully down Land. yaw left

yaw right Fly the X8 manually using the RC controller.

yaw throttle

Throttle: Move the left stick forward and backward to control altitude and acceleration. Yaw : Move the left stick horizontally to rotate and control orientation. Navigate by orienting the X8 with the blue arms facing forward. Pitch : Move the right stick vertically to fly forward and backward. Roll : Move the right stick horizontally to fly to the left and to the right. 

# Controls

roll pitch

roll and pitch center roll left

roll right

pitch up

pitch downAuto - fly a mission Fly an autonomous mission. This is the mode that the X8 will use to create the map.
Altitude hold - assisted manual control Altitude hold mode provides manual control of roll, pitch, and yaw, while allowing the autopilot to maintain the current altitude automatically. Set the left stick to center, and the copter will automatically maintain the current altitude. Raise the throttle stick above center to increase altitude (and to take off), and lower the throttle stick below center to decrease altitude. Adjust altitude and orientation with the left stick, and navigate with the right stick.
Loiter - hover With automatic autopilot control of altitude, position, and orientation, loiter is the easiest way to fly. Just release the sticks and the copter will hover in place. Return to launch (RTL) - recall and land Activate RTL during the mission to end your flight automatically. RTL commands the X8 to achieve a minimum altitude of 15 meters, return to the launch point, hover for five seconds, and land. Use the right stick to adjust the position of the X8 during landing,
Stabilize - full manual control Stabilize allows full manual control of altitude, position, and orientation without autopilot assistance. GEAR /

FLAP / either 0 To select a flight mode: First, set the GEAR/MIX switch to select a FLAP/GYRO switch to 0, 1, or 2 to selec t With GEAR/MIX set to GEAR , set FLAP/GYRO to: 0 for Stabilize 1 for Loiter 2 for Auto With GEAR/MIX set to MIX , set FLAP/GYRO to: 0 for Stabilize 1 for Altitude h o 2 for RTL 

# Modes

RC controller (top)

# Pre-flight Checks Visual Check Before flying, examine the X8 to verify the following:

» All propellers are tightly attached in the correct order with the writing on each propeller facing the sky.

» All propellers can spin without obstruction.

» The antenna is oriented vertically. Test Flight Before flying the mission, fly a brief test flight to ve r

» Responds to controls correctly in stabilize

» Holds position in loiter mode.

» Correctly executes a return-to-launch co m



# LED Indicators

Low battery, automatic landing Loss of RC signal, automatic landing

System error, see troubleshooting guide Loss of GPS signal, automatic landing Initializing, please wait Acquiring GPS, please wait

Armed



# Tones Visit 3DR.com/X8-M to listen to Pixhawk’s status tones. 

# GPS Lock Auto, RTL, and loiter modes requires GPS lock. W the autopilot will automatically search for GPS loc k use auto, RTL, or loiter modes during your flight, e autopilot acquires GPS lock before takeoff, indicat e green status LED. Autopilot ready, GPS lockedArming and disarming are important steps that must be completed before takeoff and after landing. There are two steps to arming the X8: the safety button and the throttle stick. 

# ! The arming and disarming pr o can safety start and stop mo t The X8’s motors will spin wh e propellers are clear of any ob s hands, before arming. Do not handle the propellers o the safety button is active (solid red).

Arming 1 When you’re ready to fly, place the copter at a clear launch point, with the blue arms facing away from you. 2 Press and hold the safety button until it displays solid red. This indicates that the X8 is now active. Stand back! Motors inactive, safe to handle Motors active, deactivate before handling

3 To arm the motors, hold the left stick down/right until the motors spin. Disarming 1 To disarm the motors, hold the lef t down/left until the motors stop.

2 Press and hold the safety button u The motors are now inactive, and t handle. 

# Arming and Disarming

Before arming, check the status LED. Before you fly, wait for the autopilot to acquire GPS lock. The LED will flash blue while the X8 acquires GPS; this can take a few minutes. Once you see the flashing green LED, the autopilot has acquired GPS lock.

Autopilot ready, GPS locked Autopilot ready, no GPS Initializing, please wait.

Pre-arm check failure, see page 39.

# FPV System Operation If you selected to receive an optional FPV/OSD system, the components are pre-installed into the X8 to transmit on-board video.

AV receiver
Antenna

Batteries (1 plus 1 spare) Receiver cables Parts 2 Wire and power receiver Attach an antenna to the receiver. Connect the AV outp u port. Connect the RC power cable to the receiver DC I N connector.

1 Charge battery Charge both batteries before your first flight. Set the charger to LiPo and 1A. Connect the white battery connector to the 3S port, and connect the XT60-JST charger adapter to the red battery connector and yellow charger connector.

3S port Transmitter Camera

Remove lens c a 3 Remove lens cap The video transmitter is powered by the main flight batt e turn on when the X8 is powered. To turn off the transmi t JST connector. Remove the lens cap from the camera b

LiPo 1A 4 Viewing video When using a 3DR Black Pearl Monitor to view your vid e changes modes), the channel to 8 (+ and - buttons), an d button to access the menu). For more information about configuring the FPV/OSD s y

# Flying Mapping Missions Takeoff Checklist Before flying the mission, check the following:

» Camera is on with mission script ready and is secured into the mount with the mini-USB cable connected and the cap removed.

» X8 is powered and connected to the ground station with all pre-flight checks passed.

» The survey mission has been adjusted to account for present environmental conditions and saved to the X8. 

# Initiating For automatic takeoff, arm the X8 in stabilize mod e raise the throttle to initiate the mission. For manual takeoff, initiate the mission in flight by s



# Monitoring

Mission Planner Flight Data: Attitude

1 Heading direction 2 Bank angle 3 Altitude* (black) and rate of climb (blue bar) 4 Ground speed Status

4 Distance to current waypoint > current waypoint number 5 GPS status* 6 Battery status* 1 Ground station signal* 2 GPS time 3 Currently enabled mode 1 2

3

4 1 2

3 4 5 6 Monitor the X8 closely during the mission using your line of sight and the Mission Planner Flight Data screen. Actions

1 Change waypoints or restar t 2 Change modes 3 Change altitude Flight Map

1 Current heading 2 Direct path to current wayp o 3 GPS-reported direction of tr a Full battery: 16.8 V Low battery failsafe: 14 V End your flight at 14.1 V!



## ! *Failsafe behavior enabled

# Failsafes
Low Battery Failsafe Environmental conditions can affect power consumpt display to monitor the voltage of the battery during fli g If the battery reaches 14 V, the X8 will land automatic a blinking yellow status LED and a quick repeating ton e The X8 is programmed with a set of failsafe behaviors to prevent a crash in the event of a loss of one of the data or communication channels required for autonomous flight. Although certain failsafes have assigned LED indicators and tones, it is unlikely that you will be able to see these at a distance. Monitor the Flight Data screen for failsafe indications. If a failsafe is triggered, the assigned behavior will activate. To override the failsafe behavior (RTL in most cases), use the controller to regain manual control. Regaining Manual Control To regain manual control during the mission, switch to altitude hold mode using the controller. If you’re a confident operator, switch to stabilize mode for full manual control. If you observe instability in the X8’s flight behavior or it the aircraft moves outside your designated safe flying area, switch to RTL. Turning off the controller will automatically trigger an RTL and can be used in an emergency situation as a hard recall command. Ground Station Signal Failsfe Physical obstructions and interference from nearby wireless signals can affect the X8’s connection with the ground station. Use the Mission Planner Flight Data display to monitor the ground station connection strength during flight. If the X8 loses contact with the ground station for over five seconds, it will automatically return to the launch point and land.

RC Controller Signal FailsafePhysical obstructions and interference from nearby wireless signals can affect the X8’s connection with the RC controller. If the X8 loses contact with the RC controller, it will return to the launch point automatically and land, indicated by a blinking yellow status LED. GPS Failsafe Enclosed areas, physical obstructions, and lack of av a Use the Mission Planner Flight Data display to monit o If the X8 loses GPS lock for over five seconds, it will l a

Altitude Failsafe The X8 has a 120 m altitude geofence enabled by de f will automatically RTL.

400 ft (120 m)

# 3 Process On-Site Quality Check 31 Spot Check 31 Download Images 31 Download Log File 32 Pix4D Rapid Check 33 Full Processing 33

# On-Site Quality Check Before leaving the survey site, check the images using Pix4D to ensure sufficient quality for mapping by downloading the images from the SD card, downloading the log file from the X8, and completing Rapid Check Initial Processing in Pix4D. If you observe poor image quality or the quality report returns errors, see the Image Quality Troubleshooting section on page 38 and repeat the mission.

playback button

SD card file structure: Download images 

# Spot Check (Optional) The quickest way to see the images after a flight is to unlock the SD card and restart the camera. The camera will load the default Canon programming and you can select the playback bottom to review the images. 

# Download Images Unlock the SD card and load into your groun d folder and locate the folder for your flight. Co p folder on the ground station and delete them fPix4D uses the GPS data from the X8’s log file to georeference the images. To download the X8’s dataflash log, power the X8 and connect to Mission Planner. The download process will be faster if you connect the micro-USB cable directly to Pixhawk’s micro-USB port instead of connecting using the ground station radio. (When connecting directly to the X8, set the rate to 115200.) On the Flight Plan screen, select the DataFlash Logs tab under the heads-up display, and select Download DataFlash Log over Mavlink

.

The Log window shows the X8’s recent flights. Select the flight for your mission, and select Download These Logs . This will save the log file to your computer in the location displayed under the list of flights. To retrieve the log file, access your computer’s file structure under Program Files/ Mission Planner/logs/OCTOROTOR, and select the .log file for the date of your flight. Mission Planner: Flight Data heads-up display

Mission Planner: Download Logs Progra m 

# Download Log File1 Open Pix4D Mapper, and create a new project. 2 Select Aerial Nadir as the project type.

After creating the project, select the Local Processing screen (Process menu). Check the option for Initial Processing and Rapid Check. Uncheck all other local processing options, and select Start. 

# Pix4Dmapper Rapid Check: Create Project
3 After adding the images, select From File to add t X8’s log file. In the pop-up window, select 3D R o format, and upload the dataflash log file downlo a



# Pix4Dmapper Rapid Check: Initial Processing

Pix4D will generate a Quality Report that will indicate if the images are of sufficient quality to create a map.

To complete full processing for the map, visit support.pix4d.com for instructions. 

# Full Processing

# Appendix
Aerial Imaging Concepts 35 3DR EAI 36 Image Quality Troubleshooting 38 Operational Troubleshooting 39

# Aerial Imaging Concepts
Understanding key concepts in aerial images can help you understand the mission planning process and create better maps. Distance-Based Imaging By default, the X8 captures only the images required to create the map. The autopilot monitors the distance traveled by the X8 and sends a command to the camera to capture an image at the distance interval specified by the camera trigger distance parameter (CAM_TRIGG_DIST). This parameter is set by the Mission Planner Survey Tool during survey configuration by calculating the minimum distance between images based on the parameters specified for the survey (altitude, overlap, sidelap). This distance-based imaging allows for more precise data collection, resulting in less images and data storage cost. Once configured, the Survey Tool creates an event at the start of the mission script (after takeoff) to set the camera trigger distance to the specified interval and an event at the end of the mission (before landing) to reset the camera trigger distance to 0. Therefore, while on the ground and during landing, the camera captures no images because the camera trigger distance is set to 0 m. Time-Based Imaging The X8 is also equipped to capture images at a consistent time interval instead of using distance. This function can be useful if you want to capture images over an area without planning a mission. This time-based imaging results in more images per area, and therefore more processing time and storage cost. See the intervalometer option on page 36 to enable time-based imaging. Overlap and SidelapTo capture images for the map, the X8 flies a lawnmower-like pattern in strips across the survey site. The frontto-back overlap between sequential images is called overlap; the side overlaps of adjacent pictures in different strips is called sidelap. The overlap and sidelap parameters in the Survey Tool (see Advanced Options page 16) determine the distance between images and the number of images to be captured based on the projected ground area that each image will cover, called a footprint. The Survey Tool uses a default overlap of 50% and a default sidelap of 60%. Increasing overlap and sidelap improves the accuracy of the map while increasing flight time and processing time. In the Survey To o the specified ca m be assigned to t h the projected im a number of image

Default overlap: Default sidelap: 6

# 3DR EAI3DR EAI is based on KAP UAV Exposure Control Script v3.1: a great opensource project for kite and UAV aerial photography. Start and Stop Script Ensure the camera is set to P (program) mode before powering the camera. Upon startup, 3DR EAI starts automatically and listens for commands from the autopilot, indicated by waiting for USB signal . To stop (and re-start) the script, press the shutter button. The script will display INTERRUPTED when stopped.

CHDK Menu The CHDK menu contains all the standard options provided with CHDK. To access the CHDK menu, stop the script and select the MENU button. Script Menu The script menu allows you to change the para m itself, including changing the trigger mode and a script menu, stop the script and select the FUN C are configured for the X8 and SX260 and do no t standard operation.

Trigger Type This parameter allows you to control how the c a Trigger type defaults to USB for distance-based i missions. For time-based imaging, select Interval Shot Interval parameter. Trigger Type default: USB (mapping) Variable intervalometer: Interval (default to 2 sec o Script start: waiting on USB signal

Script stopped: INTERRUPTED FINISHED Script menu

CHDK menu Script menu: Trigger TypeUpdating the Script 3DR EAI is an open-source project and continuously improving. To download the latest script, visit 3DR.com/X8-M and select 3DR EAI Source. You will be redirected to the GitHubt repository where you can right-click on Raw and select Save Link to download the latest script labeled 3DR_EAI_SX260.lua.

To update the script on the SD card, unlock the SD card and open it on your computer. Navigate to CHDK/Scripts and replace the existing 3DR_EAI_ SX260.lua file with the updated script file from GitHub.

Resources Visit 3DR.com/X8-M for links to resources. 3DR EAI GitHub Repository: github.com/diydrones/ardupilot/tree/master/Tools/CHDK-Scripts KAP UAV Exposure Control Script v3.1: chdk.wikia.com/wiki/KAP_UAV_Exposure_Control_Script CHDK v1.3: chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_1.3.0_User_Manual Download latest script from GitHub

New script file Script file on SD card Me m If th lon g re- c 3D

R

# Image Quality Troubleshooting If you observe poor image quality during the spot check or if you receive error messages during processing, use the settings below to troubleshoot the image quality. Blurry Images To correct motion blur, adjust the shutter speed using the Target Tv parameter in the script menu. Target Tv (shutter speed) default: 1/1250 To correct moderate motion blur: Set to 1/1600. To correct severe motion blur: Set to 1/2000.

Overexposure If the images are overexposed but do not show any motion blur, it can be due to flying in extremely bright conditions. To correct this, set the Allow use of ND filter parameter to YES in the script menu. Allow use of ND filter default: No To correct overexposure: Set to Yes.

Processing Errors If you receive errors from Pix4Dmapper during processing, increase the overlap and sidelap during survey configuration to improve the quality of the image set. Overlap default: 50% Sidelap default: 60% To improve processing: Set overlap to 60% and sidelap to 70%. Example image: motion blur S

Example image: overexposure S

# Operational Troubleshooting
No Images Captured 1 If the camera did not capture any images during the mission, first perform a physical inspection on the X8. Is the mini-USB cable connected to the camera’s USB port?

Are the AUX OUT 6 pins connected on Pixhawk? AUX OUT 6: black (-), red (+), white (s)

Is the camera battery charged? Unlock the SD card to view the Canon’s battery level indicator.

LED Error Indicator If the status LED displays blinking yellow, the X8 is failing one the pre-arm safety checks. To determine the specific failure, check the heads-up display on the Mission Planner Flight Data screen. There will be an error message specifying the failed check. Radio Calibration Failure: Perform Radio Calibration in Mission Planner or RC controller re-binding Accelerometer Calibration Failure: Perform Accelerometer Calibration in Mission Planner Compass Calibration Failure: Perform Compass Calibration in Mission Planner GPS Failure: Wait for improved GPS signal or move to a more open area 2 Take a distance-triggered test image o n the camera trigger distance parameter Power the X8 and connect to Mission Pla n Parameter List . Change the CAM_TRIGG_DIS T Params . Disconnect the X8 from Mission Pl to see if the autopilot triggers the camera.

Mission Planner Full Parameter List: Set CAM_TRIG G