-1 -HF. DOBINS COM PANY 

May 27, 2015 

United States Department of Transportation 

Federal Aviation Administration 

800 Independence Ave, SW 

Washington, DC 20591 

RE: Petition for Amendment of existing Section 333 Exemption for use of additional aircraft. 

To whom it may concern: 

Good day. My firm has recently been granted a Section 333 exemption and issued a COA for 

using UAS for the collection of aerial data. Per this letter of request, I seek an amendment to our 

existing 333 to allow the use of an additional aircraft that is of the same type, size and 

aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft our existing 333 was granted for. The following will 

be included in this request: Name & information of Petitioner; Executive Summary; Reasons for 

the Requested Amendment; Public Good; Description of UAV to be Deployed; Description of 

Intended Commercial Operations and Operating Parameters. Also attached is a copy of the 

existing 333 & COA and Extended User's Manual for the subject UAS. 

PERSONAL INFORMATION 

Name Richard Bowden Dobbins (hereafter referred to as "Petitioner") 

Company The Dobbins Company 

Address 3827 Cliff Crest Dr. 

Smyrna, Georgia 30080 

404-451-1595 

rick@dobbinscompany.com 

Current 333 Information 

Section 333 Exemption No. 11373 

Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2015-0060 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

On April 17, 2015, the FAA granted The Dobbins Company a Section 333 rule exemption and a 

Small UAS Operations 200 feet and below for Commercial Purposes COA for the purposes of 

aerial data collection. A copy of the 333 and COA are made part of this request for review of the 

details of issuance. This COA allows the use of a DJI Phantom 2 UAS. The petitioner seeks an 

amendment to the existing 333 to allow, in addition to the Phantom 2, the use of a SenseFly 

eXom quadcopter. The eXom is similar in many regards to the Phantom 2 in size, weight and 

P. O. Box 20001 • Atlanta, GA 30325 • 404-352-2638 
aerodynamics. Itowever, the eXom is designed mainly for the purpose of aerial mapping and 

infrastructure inspections such as bridges, cell phone towers, industrial complexes, etc. As 

explained in detail below, the eXom is far more tecimologically advaneed than the Phantom 2 as 

it has many built in sensors to facilitate its tasks. It is also a much more expensive platfotm. 

Current cost of thc eXom is around $45,000 as compazed to the $1500 for the Phantom 2. The 

intended uses of the eXom will notrequire flight above 200 feet and all requirements of the 

existing COA will be coniplied with. The eXom is unique in today's UAS marketplace as it is 

the only available UAS built specific,ally for low altitude infrastructure inspection and mapping. 

Granting this amendment will allow this new technology to be used in many industries and 

provide significant safety improvenients and cost savings to these businesses. "rhe public good 

will is well served by allowing this amendment to be issued. 

REASON OF . REQUESTED AMENDMENT 

The eXom is manufactured by SenseFly. SenseFly is a subsidiary of Parrot Company. Founded 

in 1994, Parrot creates, develops and markets, in addition to UAS, advanced consumer 

teclmology products for Smattphones and tablets. Parrot also offers the most extensive range of 

hands-free communication systems on the market for cars. Its globally recognized expertise in 

the fields of mobile connectivity and multimedia around Smartphones has positioned Parrot as a 

key player of in-ear infotaimnent. 

SenseFly develops and produces aerial imaging drones for professional applications. These safe, 

ultra-light and easy to use UAS are highly automated data collection tools and employed by 

customers around the world in ftelds sueh as surveying, agriculture, GIS, industrial inspection, 

mining and humanitariazr aid. SenseFly was founded in 2009 by a team of robotics researchers 

and quickly became the industry leader in mapping drones. Today they continue to lead the way 

in developing situationally aware systems that help professionals make better decisions. 

ScnseFly is a world leader in manufacturing drones for industrial applications. All of their 

products utilize state of tlre art technology and have exceptional safety records. 

SenseFly's newest UAS, the eXom, is a quadcopter made specifically for industrial infrastructure 

inspections and aerial mapping of small (<100 acres) tracts of land for agriculture, mining, 

construction, etc. The eXom is built with matry sensors that allow it to get close to structures and 

maintain a safe distance in order to properly collect both optical and thermal imaging. The eXom 

can even bump up against stmctures without causing datnage to the aireraft or the strueture. 

The Dobbins Company intends to use this UAS for low attitude infrastructure inspeetions and 

mapping. All operations will be conducted under 200 feet in altitude and will alway s remain 

under VLOS control. 

PUBLIC . GOOD 

The new technology offered by the eXom will a]Iow up close inspection of bridges, towers and 

other hard to reach industrial facilities by the remote use of a UAS. Not only will this result in 

significant cost savings for business, but it is much safer to inspect these types of structures 

remotely by UAV. An example are cell phone towers. The eXom, with its wide array of sensors 

can easily inspect and produce 3D maps of a tower for civil engineers to review on the ground. 

The current method of inspecting a cell tower entails having tecluricians climb the tower to 
inspect components. Many climbing deaths occur each year. The eXom eau eliminate the need to 

climb towers on a regular basis and significantly cut down the injury rate of inspecting these 

strnetures. Bridge inspections are another public good. There are over 600,000 bridges in 

America today and they need inspecting on a regular basis. Ilowever, this is currently difficult 

and requires many man-hours to conduct. The eXom can inspect a bridge with its optical and 

thermal cameras in a small fraetion of the time it currently takes to perfonn t9rese tasks. 

Railroads, DOTs and other government agencies are seen as prime candidates for using our UAS 

bridge inspection services. Gratiting this amendment to the Petitioner would allow him to 

provide this service. Further, the small UAS being utilized in this application will pose no threat 

to the public given its small size and lack of combustible fuel when compared to larger mamred 

aireraft. The operation of this UAS will minimize ecological damage and promote economic 

growth by providing information to businesses & individuals in the metro Atlanta, north Georgia 

and beyond. 

DESCRIPTION OF UAV . . . .. TO BE .. DEPLOYEI) UNDER REQUESTED AMENDMENT . . . ... _ _....... 

The eXom is a quadcopter similar in size and weight to the cuffently approved Phantom 2. The 

following are its specifications: 

AIRFRAME 

Weight 3.71bs 

Diinensions 31.5"x22.1 "x6.8" 

Mas Airspeed 27MPH 

Max Climb 23 Ft/Sec 

Max Wind Component 22 MPH 

Operating temperature -10 to 40C 

Nominal Endurance Time Approx. 22 min. 

Material Carbon Structure & conrposite parts 

Battery 3-cell 8500mAh LiPo 

Propulsion 4 Electric Brushless Motors 

'sYG7iAY1 '. T7x., 

Main Camera-Stills 38MP 

Main Camera-Video I-1D (1280X720 Px) 

Thermal Camera 80x60 Ps 

NavCam Video 640x480Px 

Ultrasonic Sensors (x6) range 20 Ft 

COMMUNICATIONS 

Ground Modem 

Range 1:2 miles 

Frequency 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz ISM bands 

Streams MiMo 2x2 with spatial Diversity 

Transmission Mode OFDM or DSSS 

Radiated Power Up to 630 mW 

Antennas Dual Omnidirectional 
Serntrity WPA Lncryption 

Remote Control 

Frequency 2.4 GHz 

Range 0.5 mites 

SOFTWARE 

The eXom comes with two sof4ware packages— eMotion X and Postflight Terra 3D. The 

eMotion is the software that controls the UAS where the Postflight is for rendering images on the 

ground. eMotion X gives operators interactivity with the eXom and provides telemetry. eMotion 

also allows operators the ability to have enhanced manual control or strict manual control. There 

are many safety feahn•es with eMotion such as systetn monitors, malfunction alerts and safety 

alerts. eMotion allows for the construction of a geofence where the UAS will return to Home if it 

crosses 8re fence parameters. And along with its GPS capabilities, the eXom has the capability of 

Return to Home or Land Immediately in case of emergency or catastrophic failure. 

PRFFLIGHT 

The petitioner will always follow procedures outlined in the UAS operator's manual as to proper 

preflight inspection of all hardware, software, environment and any other factors needed to 

ensure a safe flight. As well as compty with the existing COA. 

DESCRIPTION OF INTENDED COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS ....... _.. WITH ADDITIONAL .. .._. _.. .... ........ ......... ........ _.... 

UAS 

Petitioner intends to solicit work for aerial infrastructure inspections from tower operators, 

railroads, DOTs, construction contractors, mining operators, etc. This work will always be 

condueted with the permission of the properry owner or their respective agent. Plight operations 

will be restricted to flights directly over the property that has granted permission. Given the type 

of work being targeted here, the Petitioner does not foresee any instance where the UAS would 

be flown over any crowds or assemblages of people in an open-air environment. If in fact there is 

any job that does entail flights over crowds, petitioner will elect not to make said flight. Safety 

will always be the primary concem regarding any flight at any time. 

UAS OPERATING PARAMETERS .. .. ... ....._... . .. _ . .... .. _ _.._..._.. . The UAS being deployed iu this amendment requests can fly at a speed of approsimately 25 

knots. However, given the intended use describe here, this speed will never be necessary. Much 

slower speeds are prefetTed to collect the imaging material needed. 

Although the UAS being deployed has an approximate control link distance of 1.5 miles, this is 

much more than VLOS will allow. Petitioner agrees never to fly UAS outside of VLOS. 

Petitioner will only fly UAS during the day in VMC conditions. Given the petitioner agrees to 

never fly higher than 200 feet AGL, distance from clouds should not be a factor if flown in VMC 

conditlons. 

Petitioner agrees to use a Visual Observer (VO) during all operations. The VO will be used to 

help assure VLOS at all times. 
The UAS will not operate within 5 nautical miles of an airport reference point as denoted on a 

current FAA published aeronautical chart without permission from the airport manager. 

The UAS being deployed with this amendment request has the capability of using GPS signals to 

return to its initial point of take off if connection with the radio control link is lost. 

The petitioner agrees to yield right of way to all manned aviation activities at all times. 

CLOSING 

The Petitioner believes that amendment to our existing 333 exemption is warranted given 

Petitioner's background as a Private Pilot, the nature of the type of UAS flights that will be 

undertaken, the size & weight of the UAS being deployed, the safety precautions to the general 

public and the NAS the Petitioner intends to adhere to, the positive environmental impact the 

flight operations would have compared to manned fuel consuming missions and the economic 

benefit the Petitioner's business would have in this new area of aviation. 

Thank you for your review of this matter. Please feel free to contact me at any time with any 

questions regarding this matter. 

Respectfull submitted, 

< 

/ I 

Richard Bowden Dobbins 

5 
X 

US Department 

otTransportotion 

iederalAviatiat 

Administrafion 

8001ndependence nve. S W 

Wasnmglon. DO 20591 

April 17, 2015 

Exclnption No. 11373 

Regulatory Docket No. FAA-2015-0060 

Mr. Richard Bowden Dobbins 

The Dobbins Colnpany 

3827 Cliff Crest Drive 

Smyrna, GA 30080 

Dear Mr. Dobbins: 

This letter is to inform you that we have granted your request for exemption. [t transmits our 

decision, explains its basis, and gives you the conditions and lilnitations of the exemption, 

including the date it ends. 

The Basis far Our Decision 

By latter dated January 12, 2015, you petitioned the Federal Aviation Adlninistration (FAA) 

on behalf of The Dobbins Company (hereinafter petitioner or operator) for an esemption. The 

exemption would allow the petitioner to operate an unmanned aireratt system (UAS) to 

conduct real estate inspections. 

See Appendix A for dte petition submitted to the FAA describing the proposed operations and 

the regulations that the petitioncr seeks an exelnption. 

The FAA has determined that good cause exists for not publishing a summary of the petition 

in the Federal Register because the requested exemption would not set a precedent, and any 

delay in acting on this petition would be detrimental to the petitioner. 

Aircvorthiness Certiflcation 

The UAS proposed by the petitioner are the DJI Phantom 2 and DJI Phantom 2 Vision 
In accordance with the statutory criteria provided in Section 333 of Public Law 112-95 in 

reference to 49 U.S.C. § 44704, and in consideration of the size, weight, speed, and limited 

operating area associated witli the aircraft and its operation, the Secretary of Transportation 

has determined that this aircraft nieets the conditions of Section 333. Therefore, the FAA 

finds that the relief from 14 CFR part 21, Certifrcation procedures,for products and parts, 

Subpar! H—Airworthiteess Certificates, and any associated noise certification and testing 

requirements of part 36, is not necessary. 

Thc Basis for Our Decision 

You have requested to use a UAS for aerial data collection. The FAA has issued grants of 

exemption in circutnstances similar in all material respects to those presented in your pctition. 

ht Cn'ants of Exeinption Nos. 11062 to Astraeus Aerial (see Docket No. FAA-20I4-0352), 

I 1109 to Clayeo, Inc. (see Docket No. FAA-2014-0507), 11112 to VDOS Global, LLC (see 

Docket No. FAA-2014-0382), and 11213 to Aeryon Labs, Ine. (see Doel<et No. 

FAA-2014-0642), the FAA found that the enhanced safety achieved using an unmanned 

aircraft (UA) with the specifications described by the petitioner and carrying no passengers or 

erew, rather than a manned aircraft of significantly greater proportions, carrying erew in 

addition to t7ammable fucl, gives the FAA good cause to find that t'he UAS operation enabled 

by this esemption is in t'he public interest. 

Having reviewed your reasons for requesting an exemption, I find that— 

•"I'hey are siinilar iu all inaterial respects to relief previously requested in Grant of 

Exemption Nos. 11062, 11109, 11112, and 11213; 

• The reasons stated by the FAA for granting Exemption Nos. 11062, 11109, 11112, and 

11213 also apply to the situation you present; and 

• A grant of exemption is in the public interesl. 

Our Decision 

In consideration of the foregoing, 1 find that a grant of exemption is in the public interest. 

Therefore, pursuant to the authority contained in 49 U.S.C. 106(f), 40113, and 44701, 

delegated to me by the Administrator, The Dobbins Company is granted an exemption from 

14 CFR §§ 61.23(a) and (c), 61.101(e)(4) and (5), 61.113(a), 61.315(a), 91.7(a), 9I.119(c), 

91.121, 91.151(a)( I), 91.405(a), 91.407(a)( I), 91.409(a)(1) and (2), and 91.417(a) and (b), to 

the extent necessary to allow the petitioner to operate a UAS to pertbrin aerial data collection. 

This exeinption is subject to the conditions and liinitations listed below. 

Conditions and Limitations 

In this grant of exemption, The Dobbins Company is hereafler referred to as the operator 
Failure to comply with any of the conditions and limitations of this grant of exemption will be 

grounds for the iininediate suspension or rescission of this exemption. 

I. Operations authorized by this grant of esemption are limited to the DJI Phantom 2 and 

DJl Phantom 2 Vision when weighing less than 55 pounds including payload. 

Proposed operations of any other airerafY will require a new petition or a petition to 

amend lhis esemption. 

2. Operations for the purpose of closed-set motion picture and television tihning are nat 

permitted. 

3. The UA may not be operated at a speed exceeding 87 knots (100 miles per hour). The 

exemption holder tnay use either groundspeed or calibrated airspeed to determine 

coinpliance w•ith the 87 knot speed restriction. In no case will the UA be operated at 

airspeeds greater than the maximuin UA operating airspeed recommended by the 

aircraftinanufacturer. 

4. The UA nmst be operated at an altitude of no more than 400 feet above ground level 

(AGL). Altittide inust be reported in feet AGL. 

5. The UA must be operated witliin visual line of sight (VLOS) of the PIC at all times. 

This requires the PIC lo be able to use human vision unaided by any device other than 

corrective lenses, as specified on the PIC's FAA-issued airman medical certificate or 

U.S. driver's license. 

6. AII operations must utilize a visual observer (VO). The UA must be operated within 

the visual line of sight (VLOS) of tJte PIC and VO atall times. The VO may be used 

to satisfy the VI.OS requirement as long as the PIC always maintains VLOS 

capability. The VO and PIC must be able to cominunicate verbally at all times; 

electronic messaging or texting is not permitted during flight operat{ons. The PIC inust 

be designated before the flight and cannot transfer his or her designation for the 

duration of the flight. The PIC must ensure that the VO can perform the duties 

required ofthe VO. 

This exemption and all documents needed to operate the UAS and conduct its 

opei'ations in accordanee with the eonditions and liinitations stated in this grant of 

exemption, are hereinafter referred to as the operating documents. The operating 

docutnents must be accessible during UAS operations and made available to the 

Administrator upon request. If a discrepancy exisls between the conditions and 

limitations in this exeinption and the procedures outlined in the operating documents, 

the conditions and limitations herein take precedence and must be followed. 

Odterwise, the operator inust follow the procedwes as outlined in its operating 

docuntents. The operator may update or revise its operating documents. It is the 

operator's responsibility to track such revisions and present updated and revised 
docuinents to the Administrator or any law enforcement official upon request. The 

operator inust also present updated and revised docunicnts if it petitions for extension 

or amendment to this grant of exemption. If the operator deterinines that any update or 

revision would affect the basis upon which lhe FAA granted lhis esemption, then lhe 

operalor must petition for an amendment to its grant of eseinption. The FAA's UAS 

Integration OfPice (AFS-80) may be contacted if questions arise regarding updates or 

revisions to the operating documents. 

8. Any UAS tltat has undergone maintenance or alterations that affect the UAS operation 

or flight eharacteristics, e.g. replaceinent of a Oight critical component, must undergo 

a functional test flight prior to conducting further operations under this exemption. 

Functional tesl tlights may only be conducted by a PIC with a VO and must remain at 

Ieast 500 feet froin other people. The funetional test flight must be conducted in such 

a tnanner so as to not pose an unduc hazard to persons and property. 

9. The operalor is responsible for maintaining and inspecting the UAS to ensure lhat it is 

in a condition for safe operation. 

10. Prior to each flight, the PIC must conduct a pre-fligltt inspection and deterinine the 

UAS is in a condition for safe 1'light. The pre-tlight inspeetion inust aceount for all 

potential discrepancies, e.g. inoperable coinponents, items, or equipment. IPtlie 

inspection reveals a condition that affects the safe operation of the UAS, the aircraft is 

prohibited front operating until the necessary maintenance has been performed and the 

UAS is found to be in a condition for safe flight. 

11. The operator must follow the UAS manufacturer's inaintenance, overliaul, 

replacement, {nspection, and life limil requirements for the aireraft and airerall 

components. 

12. Gaeh UAS operated under this exemption must coinply with all manufacturer safety 

bulletins. 

13. Under this grant of exemption, a PIC inust hold either an airline transport, 

coinmercial, private, recreational, or sport pilot certifieate. The P[C must also hold a 

current FAA airman inedical certificate or a valid U.S. driver's licernse issued by a 

state, the District of Colombia, Puer[o Rico, a territory, a possession, or the Federal 

government. Thc PIC niust also meel the flighl review requirements specified in 

14 CFR § 61.56 in an aircraft in which the P1C is rated on his or her pilot certificale. 

14. The operator may not permit any PIC to operate unless the PIC demonstrates the 

ability to safely operate the UAS in a manner consistent with how the UAS will be 

operated under this exemption, including evasive and emergency maneuvers and 

maintaining appropriate distanees from persons, vessels, vehicles and structures. PIC 

qualification flight hours and currency must be logged in a manner consistent with 
14 CFR § 61.51(b). Flights for the purposes of naining the operator's P I Cs and VOs 

(training, proficieney, and experience-building) and determining the PIC's ability lo 

safely operate the UAS in a manner consistent wit'h how the UAS will be operated 

under dhis exemption are permitted under the terms of this exemption. I{owever, 

training operations may only be conducted during dedicated training sessions. During 

training, proficiency, and experience-btiilding flights, all persons not essential for 

flight operations are considered nonparticipants, and the PIC must operate the UA 

with appropriate distance from nonparticipants in accordance with 14 CFR § 91.119. 

15. UAS operations may not be conducled dttring night, as defined in 14 CFR § I.I. AII 

operations inust be conducted tinder visual meteorologieal eonditions (VMC). Flights 

under special visual flight rules (SVFR) are not authorized. 

16. The UA inay not operate within 5 nautical miles of an airport referenee point (ARP) as 

denoted in the current FAA Airport/Facility Directory (AFD) or For airports not 

denoted with an ARP, the center of the airpoit symbol as denoted on the current FAApublished aeronautical chart, tinless a letter of agrceinent with that airport's 

management is obtained or olherwise permitted by a COA issued to the exemption 

holder. The letter of agreement with the airport management must be made available 

to the Administrator or any law enforcement ofticial upon request. 

17.The UA inay not be operated less than 500 feot below or less than 2,000 feet 

horizontally from a cloud or when visibility is less than 3 statute miles from the PIC. 

18. [f the UAS loses communications or loses its GPS signal, the UA must return to a predeterinined location within the private or eontrolled-access property. 

19. The PIC must abort the flight in the event of unpredicted obstacles or emergeneies. 

20. The PIC is prohibited from beginning a Elight unless (considering wind and forecast 

weather conditions) there is enough available power for the UA to conduct the 

intended operation and to operate a8er that for at least flve minutes or with the reserve 

power recoininended by the manufactarer if greater. 

21. Air Traffic Organization (ATO) Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA). AII 

operations shall be conducted in aceordance with an ATO-issued COA. The 

eseniption holder may apply for a new or amended COA if it intends to conduct 

operations that cannot be eondueted under the terms of the atteched COA. 

22. AII aireraft operated in accordanee with this exemption must be identified by serial 

number, registered in accordance with 14 CFR part 47, and have identification (NNumber) markings in accordance with 14 CFR part 45, Subpart C. Markings inust be 

as Iarge as practicable. 
23. Documents used by the operator to ensure the safe opera.tion and flight of the UAS and 

any documents required under 14 CFR §§ 91.9 and 91.203 must be available to the 

PIC at the Ground Control Station of the UAS any time the aircraft is operating. These 

documents inust be made avzilable to the Adminisnator or any law enforeement 

offeial upon request, 

24. Tlte UA must remain clear and give way to all inanned aviation operations and 

activities at all tiines. 

25. The UAS inay not be operated by the PIC from any moving device or vehicle. 

26. AII Flight operalions must be conducted at least 500 feet from all nonparticipating 

persons, vessels, vehicles, and structures unless: 

a. Barriers or structures are present that sufflciently protect nonparticipating persons 

from the UA and/or debris in the event of an accident. The operator must ensure 

that nonpartieipating persons remain under such protection. If a situation arises 

where nonparticipating persons leave such proteetion and are within 500 feet of 

the UA, flight operations must cease iminediat'ely in a manner ensuring the safety 

of nonparticipating persons; and 

b. The owner/controller of any vessels, vehicles or slructures has granted perinission 

for operating closer t'o those objects and the PIC has made a safety assessment of 

the risk of operating closer to thosa objects and determined that it does not 

present an undue hazard. 

The PIC, VO, operator trainees or essential persons are not considered 

nonpai'ticipating persons under this exemption. 

27. All operations shall be conducted over private or controlled-access property with 

permission from the property ownedcontroller or atithorized representative. 

Permission from property owner/controller or authorized representative will be 

obtzined for each flight to be eonducted. 

28. Any incident, aecident, or flight operation that transgresses the lateral or vertical 

boundaries ol'the operational area as defined by tite applicable COA must be reported 

to the FAA's UAS Integration Office (AFS-80) within 24 hours. Aecidents must be 

reported to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) per instructions 

contained on the NTSB Web sile: t~~aw.ntsb.eoa . 

If this exentption permit's operations for the purpose of closed-set motion picture and 

television filming and prodtiction, the following additional conditions and limitations apply. 

29. Thc operator inust have a motion picture and television operations manual (MPTOM) 

as documented in this grant of exemption. 
30. At lezst 3 days before aerial fihning, the operator of the UAS affected by this 

exeinption must submit a written Plan of Activities to the local Flight Standards 

District Office (FSDO) v.•ithjurisdiction over the area of proposed filrning. Thc 3-day 

notification may be waived with the concurrence of the FSDO. The plan of activities 

must include al least the following: 

a. Dales and times for all flights; 

b. Name and phone nuinbcr of the operator for the UAS aerial filming conducted 

under this grant of exemption; 

c. Name and phone number of the person responsible for the on-scene operation of 

the UAS; 

d. Make, model, and serial or N-Number of UAS to be used: 

e. Name and certiCGcate number of UAS PICs involved in the aerial filming; 

f. A slatement that the operator has obtained permission from property owners 

and/or local officials to conduct the filming production event; the list of those 

who gave permission must be made available to the inspector upon request; 

g. Signature of exeinption holder or representative; and 

h. A description o'f the flight activity, including maps or diagams of any area, city, 

town, county, and/or state over which filming will be conducted and the altitudes 

essential to accomplish the operation. 

31. Flight operations may be conducted closer than 500 feet froin participating persons 

eonsenting to be involved and necessary for the fitming produetion, as specified in the 

exeinption holder's MPTOM. 

Unless otherwise specified in this grant of exemption, the UAS, the UAS PIC, and the UAS 

operations must comply with all applicable parts of 14 CFR including, but not limited to, 

parts 45, 47, 61, and 91. 

This exeinption terminates on April 30, 2017, unless sooner superseded or rescinded. 

Sincerely, 

/S/ 

John S. Duncan 

Director, Flight Standards Service 
January az, 2015 

United States Department of'I7ansportation 

Federal Aviation Administration 

800 Independence Ave, S W 

Washington, DC 20591 

RE: Petition for fixemption from certain Title ig CFRs in regards to Section 333 of the 

FAAMode.rnization & Reforni Aet of 2ot2 concerning Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) 

To whom it may concern: 

Good day. Per this letter of request, I secic exeniption from sevreral Tttle tq CFBs that 

relzte to the commercial use of unmanned aerial systenrs (UAS). Tlre following will be 

included in this request: Name & information of Petitioner; Executive Snmmary of 

Petitioner summarizing the rules Petitioner seeks exemption from and reasons the 

ezeinptions would serve the pubtic good; SpeeificTitle rq CFRs lo which an exemption 

is sought; the extent & reasons for the re4uested exemptions; reasons why safety would 

not be compromised. 

PER80NALINPORIIATION ~

Naine Richard I3owden Dobbins (hereafter rcferred to as "Petitioner") 

Company 'CheDobbinsConrpauy 

Address 3827C1iffCrestDr. 

Smyrna, Georgia 30080 

904 -451- 1595 

rick (7ri dobbinscompanv.coni 

EXECUTIVF, SUMbIARY 

The Petltioner was born on Deceniher 9, 1959 in Atlmrta, Ga. and is a U9 citizen.l9e is 

the CEO ofThe Dobbins Cmnpany which has been in business since 1975. The Dobbins 

Company is a consulting firm whose primary clients are banks and commercial finance 

companies located mainly in the southcast USA. Tlre petitioner is a Itcensed private pilot 

Nvitlr an instrument rating. 1-le has previonsly owned a 1975 Cessna Cardinal RG. 

I'etltioner hns never been cited for any FAAviolations. Since 2013, Petitioner has owned 

u DJI Phantom 2 and n Phantom z Vision UAS. As a hobbyist, Petitioner has become 

very proficfent wtth the Phantom models wittr ovec roo hours fiown in type. Petitioner Is 

requesting an escinption from the current rules in Section 333 which govern the uses of 

UASs for commercial purposes. The Petitioner seeks autlrorizatian to perform 

comniercial UAS operations for real estate inspections. This would include residential, 

commercial and rural properties. Prospective customers and clients would include real 

P. O. ➢ o.c 20001 • Atluntn, CA 3e325' 904-352-2638 
estate agents & brokers, manzgement companies, insm ance companies & vendors, 

banks and private property owners. 

The Tltle 14 CFRs exeniptions that this request eneails are 61.1 13(a) &(b); 91.7(a); 

91.1197 9 1 . 121 l91 . 151(a){ 91.405; 91 407(a)S 91 409(a)(1) Pi(z); 91.417(a) S(b). Reasons 

for request are cited below. 

PUELIC GOOD 

Aeriul videograpby for geograpliical awareness and for real es-tate marketing and 

inspections has been around for a long time throngh ntanned fixed wing aircraft and 

helicopters. But far small business awners, its expense has been cost-prohibitive. 

Granting this esemption to the Petitioner would allow ltiin to provide this sendce at a 

much lower cost. Purther, the small UAS being ntilized in this applieafion will pose no 

threat to the pubiic given its small size and lack of combustible fuel when compared to 

larger manned aireraft. The operation of this U A 5 wdll mininrize ecological damage 

and promote economic growth by providing intormation to businesses & individuals in 

the metro Atlanta and north Georgia area. 

DESCRIPTION OF IJAV TO EL+ DEPLOYED UNDF.R REOUESTED 

EXEMPTIONS 

Petitioner currently owns a DSI Pliantom 2 quad copter and a DJI Phantom 2 Vision 

quad copte.r. These nre virtually the same model of UAV. The difference is in cumera 

capabilities and slightly different control linl:s. Tbe petitioner intends to use the 

Phantom 2 as the primary UAV in comntercial applications described lterein. The 

Phantom? is a quad capter that czn take off and land vei4ically. It weighs approximately 

31bs. and has a maxinmm airspeed ofapprosimately 25lcnots. This UAS uses lithium 

polynrer batteries which have approximately 20-25 minutes of total cliarge time. This 

gives this UAS upproximately 12-15 minutes of flight time with suffictent remaining 

battery charge to land safely. The particular model of Phantom z being utilized under 

this request for exemption has Pirst Person View (PPV) which allows the PIC to visually 

monitor certain telemetry data on a ground station monftor including altitude (AGL), 

GPS signal strength, battery charge informatfon, etc. This FPV also gives the PIC lddeo 

feed fronr the attached GoPro camera showing what images arebeing captured. This is a 

significant safety feature as it shows the attitude ofthe UAS and its forward direction. 

However, this PPV feature will never be used as e tool to deviate from VLOS operation 

by the PIQ 

PREBLIGHT 

The petitionerNvill always follow procedures outlined in the UAS operator's manual as to 

proper preflight inspection of all bardware, software, environment and anyother factors 

needed to ensure a safe (]ight. 
FCC llVFOR.rIATION 

The L'AS be deployed here is a DJI Phantom z. The control link operates on the 2.4 GFIz 

ISM radio frequency, its published range is ro(o meters f328o feet). The rece4ver 

sensitivity is -97dDm. 

PIC QUAidRICATIO NyS 

The petitioner holds a FAA Private Pilot's License with an instrument rating. Petitioner 

Irzs over 600 hours PIC time in a varlety of Cessna znd Piper aircraft with the majolity 

being in the 1975 Cessna 177RG he previously owned. Petitioner has oswned the UAS 

described above since 2013and has over roo hours in this type of IIAS as a hobbyist. 

The petitioner envisions being the PIC in all operations thatwill be performed under the 

requested rule exemptions and the subsequent COA request. IIowever, if another P1C is 

used for these operations, petitioner agrees that any PIC of tlre UAS in the envisioned 

operatians v+dll hold at least a PAA Private pilots certificate, hold at least a 3"d class 

medical certifrcate, have no less than 25 hours of PIC time in the UAS bcing deployed 

before beginning any type of commercial for hire operations and conform to all safety 

protocols. 

DESCItIPTION OF INTPNDFD CO'VIMERCIAi OPLRATIONS 

Petitioner intends to solicit work for aerial real estate inspections from real estate agents 

& bralcers, insurmrce companies & related vendors, bnnks and private property owners 

to provide photography and videography of residentinl, commercial and rural real 

e.state. This work will always be conducted with the per:nission af the property• mvner or 

their respective agent. Flight operations will be restricted to flights dirrectly over the 

property thaL has granted permission. Given the type of work being targeted here, the 

Petitioner does not foresee any instence ivhere the UAS would be flown over any crowds 

or assenrblages of people in an open air environment. If in fact anyjob does entail flights 

oecr crowds, petitioner will elect not to make said flight. SafeLywlll alivays be the 

primary concern regarding any flight at any time. 

Petitioner agrees to place a sign during any flight operation that says: CAUTIONUNMlv*INED AERIAL VEHICLE IN OPERA7']ON. STAY BACK roo FEET FROM 

AIRCIU,Fr. 

l7ASOPERATINGPARAMETEHB 

Tlre UAS being deploycd in these esemption reauest can fly at a speed of approximately 

25 knots. However, given the intended use describe here, this speed will never be 

necessary. Much slower speeds zrc preferred to collect the photographic tnaterial 

needed. 

Although the UAS being deployed has an approximatg control link distance of 3/4 mlle, 

this is much niore thun VLOS will allaw. Petitioner agrees never to fly UAS outside of 

VLOS. 

Petitlonor will only fly UAS during the day in VMC conditions. Given the petitioner 

agrees to never fly higher than 300 fect AGL, distance from clouds should not be a factor 

ifYlown in VD1C condittons. 
Petitioner agrees to use a Visual Obsetver (VO) during all operations. The VO ivill be 

used to help assure VLOS at all limes. 

The UAS tidll not operate within 5 nautical miles of an airport reference point as 

denoted on a current FAA published aeronautical chat4. 

The UAS being deployed cvith these exemption requests has the capability of using GPS 

signals to return to its initial point of take off if connection wltb t7re radio cantrol link fs 

lost. 

The petitioner agrees to yield right of way to all manned aviation activities at all times. 

F:XHMPTION R. . /2 PSTS U

The following are a list of Title 14 CPAs which fhe petitioner seeks exemption. Please 

note that the Pefitioner has used Sxemption No. 11138 to Uouglas Trudeau (Regulatory 

Oocl:et No. FAA-2014-048r) as a reference. Given that the petitioner and 11r. Trudeau 

intend to use the exemptions in similar manners and botlt use similar equipment, it 

seemed prudent not to bnrden the reviewer in this matter with exemption requests that 

have been previously deemed that celieve was not necessary. These rules are Part 21, 

45-23(b), 9rA(b)(2), 9 1,1 03(b), 91.109 and gx203(a) &(b). If the reviewer believes that 

these rules need to be addressed in this request, the petitioner will make a snpplemental 

request including these additional rule exemptlons. 

RULL 6r:irs PRNATP ('ILOT PREVELEGES AND LI&IITATIONS 

The Petitioner currently holds an PAA Private Pilot Certificate with an Instrument 

Rating (a copy of this certificate is included in supplemental material as part of this 

request). In addilion to the certificate, Petitioner agrees to maintain a 3r" Class Medical 

Certificate. However, petitionerhas an eye sight problem that may cause rejection of the 

medical unless addressed by rule exemption. Petitioner has what is called a uniiateral 

papifledema of the right eye. This is an inflantmation of the rfght optic nerve to which 

there is no cure ar corrective lens solution.'17tis cnmses blurriness in lhe right eye. The 

left eye has 20/20 vision and when using both eyes, Petitioner has 2o/2o long distance 

sight. Corrective lens are need for rending. This sight condition has caused Petitioner to 

cease operating nianned aircraft. However, this condition does not affect Petitioner's 

ability to operate a UAS in any way. The petitioner seeks an esemption from some 

eyesight requirements for the 3rd Class medical certificate. 

As to private pilot limitations concerning operations for ltire or compensation, it seems 

that Gxemption No. uoGZ to A.straeus has allowed this cxemption previously and was 

noted in the Trudeau Exenrptlon No. 11 138 , 

As to airmansltip skills, the Petitioner has been operating his UAS since?or3 and lUas 

over too hours of Flight tiine. Petitioner currently fly's this U.AS several hours z month 

as a hobby and is very profrcient and bas ttie skills to maintain altitudc, maintain VLOS, 

aavigate, avoid obstacles, avoid air traffic and respond to loss of control link. Petitioner 

understands that he mnst make at least 3 takeoffs and landings withfn a 90 day perriod 

for cttrrency purposes. 
RL'LE or.v(a) CIVIL AIRCRAIT.AI12XNORTIiINESS 

There is no current PAA regulatory standard for determining ainvorthiness ofUA9 and 

there is no certificate currently available for UAS ainvorthiness. Petitioner seeks an 

exemption from this rule by ensuring that the UAS is in an airworthy conditionbased on 

conipliance witlr the operating documents prior to evety flight. Flight manuals nnd otlter 

important documents will be kept in a loeation readily accessible to the PIC nt ell times. 

RULE nr.rin(c) MINIMUM SAFEALTITUDES 

91.1 i9 prescribes safe altitudes for the operation of civil aireraft, butit ellows helicopters 

to be operated at lower altltudes in certain conditions. Pelitioner seeks an exemption 

from this rule as Petitioner will only operate the UAS in a range from ground level up to 

but not exceeding goo feet (AGL) znd will only operate in safe areas away from the 

publlc lhus providing a level of safety not available to manned aircraft. The petitioner 

asserCs that given the size, weight, tnaneuverability and speed of the UAS, an eqtdvalent 

or Iiigher level of safety will he achieved that from conventional manned helicopters. 

Petitioner will avoid activelypopulated areas.'these areas will be interpreted to inrinde 

areas on a RVR chart depicted in vellow and will be supplemented with informetion 

from a P'ligbts Standard District Offlce (FSDO). Petifloner intends to operate the UAS 

over real esfate for inspection purposes. Petitioner ivill not operate over any assemblage 

of people in an open air environment 

Per the exemption granted in No, u135 concerning 9Lia9(e), Pelitioner ugrees to uct in 

strict accordanee to that esemption. However, Petitioner seeks zn exempfion from the 

rule stipulatiug tlrat a UAS cannot be operated witlhin goofeet of a structure withaut 

permission af the omner. Given the intended use Petitimter ivill use these exemptions 

for, which is for photograplry and videography of real estate for marketing & inspection 

purposes, agreement from the engnging property owner or their agent is an absolute 

necessity.'ltre UAS will only be flown over properties with this pemiissian. However, 

given the housing density in the Atlanta, GA area, maintuining a 500 foot distance from 

other structures even while strictly flying over a perniission granting owner's property is 

impossible in many instances. The Petitioner seeks an exemption to this rule which 

would allow a 5o'stand-off from other structures as long as the UAS is operated 

completely over and within the propertyboundary lines of a permission granting 

property owner. Petitioner agrees to always keep privacy rights of other property owners 

in mind and will never engage a UAS in any type of surveillance or spying. 

RUL~,I .auALTIMETER SETTINGS 

Petitioners' UAS has GPS derived altitude capabilities Nvith a baromatric sensor. The 

petilioner believes this cule in not applicable to the UAS operations iniended. 

RULE ov.iFi(a) FUEL REOUII2EMEN'PS FOR FLIGIIT IN VFR CONDITIONS 

Pefitioner seeks relief from this rule due to thc UAS being deployed is battery operated 

and thereqairements under this rule are not appliczble. The UAV in question has First 

Person Vision capabilities which transmits certain telemetry to a monitor where the PIC 

can monitor certain aspects ofthe flight inclttding battery level. A typical battery for a 
Phantom 2 U.4S will last approximately 20-25 minutes before total exhaustion. Certain 

battery lecel warnings sre set wherc the PIC will know when the battery state is at 30^6 

and 15% remaining charge lovelx. Th[s will normally allow z flight Of rz — 15 m[nutes 

with snfficicnt hattery charge to mzke a safe landing. Petitioner will never beg[n a tlight 

unless a fully charged battery is usedRULC qi,zlo ION 

AFPERNAINTENANCP PREBVENTITIVEMAINPENANCE RBBUILDINC 

OBALTERA'PION; nr aoo( )(2) INSPECTIONS nt axo(a)(b) 

MAINTENANCE RECORDS 

Petitioner seeks relief from thesc rules dne to it being an alternate inspectfon 

requirement of 91.409(a)(2). The Petitioner will inspect and onsme UAS Is in a 

conditlon for snfe flight and adhere to all operating documen[s. 

SUPPLEMENI'AL INPOIIIV[ATION 

R'he Petitioner has provided t'he following information to support these requests for rule 

exemptions: 

r) Copy of petitioners FAA Private Pllot's License, 2) Phentom 2 User Mnnual v. 1 .

04. 3) 

NAZA M-V2 Main Controller Qtdck Star[ Guidev.t.26 (Tltis is the micro cvntroller that 

operates the UAS), S) iOSD Mini User Manoal (This provides telemetry data during 

flight). 

CLOSING 

The Petftloner belicves that exemption from the above listed Title 14 CPRS is warranted 

given Petitioner's hackground as a Private Pilot, the nature of the type of UAS fligh(s 

that will be und¢rtaken, [he size & weight of the U AS being deployed, the safety 

precautions to thegeneral public and the NAS the Petitioner intends to adlmre to, the 

positive environmental impact the flight operatious would have compared to manned 

fuel consnining missions und the economiebenefit the Petitloner's business would have 

in this new area of aviatian. 

Thank cou foryour review of this inaCter. Please feel free to eontact me at anytimewith 

any qnestions regarding this matter. 

Respectfully sub,mitted, 

/i 

Richarrll3mvden Dobbins 
FAA FORM 7711-1 UAS COA Attachment Page 1 of 6 

FAA-2015-0060 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION 

CERTIFICATE OF WAIVER OR AUTHORIZATION 

ISSUED TO 

The Dobbins Company 

3827 Cliff Crest Drive 

Smyrna, GA 30080 

This certificate is issued for the operations specifically described hereinafter. No person shall conduct 

any operation pursuant to the autliority of this certificate exeept in accordance with the standard and special 

provisions contained iv this certificate, and such other requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations not 

s ecifically waived by this certificate. 

OPERATIONSAUTHORIZED 

Operation of the DJI Phantom 2 and DJI Phantom 2 Vision Unmanned Aircraft Systems at or below 200 

feet Above Ground Leval (AGL) for the purpose of aerial data collection. 

LIST OF WAIVED REGULATIONS BY SECTION AND TITLE 

N/A 

STANDARD PROVISIONS 

1. A copy of the application made for this certificate sliall be attached and becwme a part hereof. 

2. This certificate shall be presented for inspection upon the request of any authorized representative of the 

Federal Aviation Administration, or of any State or nnwicipal official charged with the duty of enforcing 

local laws or regulations. 

3. The holder of tltis certificate shall be responsible for the sttict observance of the tenns and provisions 

contained herein. 

4. This certificate is nontransferable. 

Note-This eertificate constitutes a waiver of those Federal rules or regulations specifically refeffed to 

above. It does not constitute a waiver of any State law or local ordinance. 

SPECIAL PROVISIONS 

S ecial Provisions are set forth and attached. 

This certificate FAA-2015-0060-333E is effective from April 17, 2015 to April 30, 2017 and is subjectto 

cancellation at any time upon notice by the Administrator or his/her authorized representative. 

BY DIRECTION OF THE ADMINISTRATOR 

/S/ 

FAA Headquarters- AJV-115 Jacaueline R. Jackson 

(Region) (Signature) 

April 10, 2015 Manaaer. UAS Tactical Onerations Section 

(Date) (Title) 

FAA Form 7711-1 (7-74) 

Small UAS Operations 200 feet and below for 

Commercial Purposes March 2015 
FAA FORM 7711-1 UAS COA Attachment Page 2 of 6 

FAA-2015-0060 

STANDARD PROVISIONS 

A. General. 

1. The approval of this COA is effective only with an approved FAA Grant of Exemption. 

2. A copy of ihe COA including the special limitations must be immediately avaitable to all 

operational personnel at each operating location whenever UAS operations are being 

conducted. 

3. This authorization may be canceled at any timc by the Administrator, the person 

autlhorized to grant the authorization, or the representative designated to monitor a 

speci8e operation. As a general rule, this authorization may be caneeled when it is no 

longer required, thcre is an abuse of its provisions, or when unforeseen safety factors 

develop. Failure to comply with the authorization is cause for cancellation. The operator 

will receive written notice of cancellation. 

B. Safety of Flight. 

1. Tbe operator or pilot in couvnand (PIC) is responsible for haltung or canceling ac[ivity in 

the COA area if, at any time, the safety of persons or property on the ground or in thc air 

is in jeopudy, or if there is a failure to cotnply with the terms or conditions of this 

authorization. 

See-and-Avoid 

Unmanned aircraft have no on-board pilot to perform see-and-avoid responsibilities; 

therefore, when operating outside of active restricted and warning areas approved for 

aviation activities, provisions must be made to ensure an equivalent level of safety exists 

for unmanned operations consistent with 14 CFR Part 91 §91.11 l, §91.113 and §91.115. 

a. The pilot in command (PIC) is responsible: 

• To remain clear and give way to alI manned aviation operations and activities at 

all times, 

• For the safety of persons or property on the sudace with respect to the UAS, and 

• For compliance with CFR Parts 91.111, 91.113 and 91.115 

b. UAS pilots will cnsure there is a safe operaling distance between aviation activities 

and unmanned aircraft (UA) at all times. 

c. V isual observers must be usedd at all tinies and mainYain instantaneous communication 

with the PIC. 

d. The PIC is responsible to ensure visual observer(s) are 

Small UAS Operations 200 feet and below for 

Commercial Purposes March 2015 
FAA FORM 7711-1 UAS COA Attachment Page 3 of 6 

FAA-2015-0060 

• Able to see the UA and the surrounding airspace throughout the entire flight, and 

• Able to provide the PIC with the UA's flight path, and proximity to all aviation 

activities and other hazards (e.g., terrain, weather, structures) sufficiently for the 

PIC to exercise effective control of the UA to prevent the UA from creating a 

collision hazard. 

e. V isual observer(s) must be able to communicate clearly to the pilot any instructions 

required to remain clear of eonflicting haftie. 

2. Pilots are reminded to follow all federal regulations e.g. reinain clear of ail Teinporary 

Flight Restrictions, as well as following the exemption granted for their operation. 

3. The operator or delegated representative must not operate in Prohibited Areas, Special 

Flight Rule Areas or, the Washington National Capital Region Flight Restricted Zone. 

Such areas are clepicted on cliarts available at 

httn://www.faa.gov/air traffic/flizht info/aeronav/. Additionally, aircraft operators 

should beware of and avoid other areas identified in Notices to Airmen (NOTAMS) 

which restricts operations in proximity to Power Plants, Electric Substations, Dams, 

Wind Fanns, Oil Refineries, Industrial Complexes, National Parks, The Disney Resorts, 

Stadiums, Emergency Services, the Washington DC Metro Flight Restricted Zone, 

Militay or other Federal Faeilities. 

4. AII aireraft operated in accordance with this Certificate of Waiver/Authorization must be 

identified by serlal uumber, registered in accordance with 14 CFR part 47, and have 

identification (N-Number) markings in accordance witli 14 CFR part 45, Subpart C. 

Markings must be) as large as practicable. 

C. Reporting Requirements 

1. Documentation of all operations associated with UAS activities is required regardless of 

the airspace in which the UAS operates. NOTE: Negative (zero flights) reports are 

required. 

1 The operator must submit the following information through 

mailto:9-AJV-115-UASOrganizationna faa.aov on a monthly basis: 

a. Name of Operator, Exemption number and Aircraft registration number 

b. UAS type and model 

c. All operating locations, to include location city/name and latitude/longitude 

d. Number of fligllls (per location, per aircraft) 

e. Total airerafi operational hours 

f. Takeoff or Landing damage 

Small UAS Operations 200 feet and below for 

Commercial Purposes March 2015 
FAA FORM 7711-1 UAS COA Attachment Page 4 of 6 

FAA-2015-0060 

g. Equipment malflinctions. Reportable malfunctions include, but are not limited to the 

following: 

(1) On-board flight control system 

(2) Navigation system 

(3) Powerplant failure in flight 

(4) Fuel system failure 

(5) Electrical system failure 

(6) Control station failure 

3. The number and duration of lost link events (control, performance and health monitoring, 

or commwiications) per UA per flight. 

D. No6ce to Airmen (NOTAM). 

A distant (D) NOTAM must be issued when unmanned aircraft operations are being 

conducted. This requirement may be accomplished: 

a. Through the operator's local base operations or NOTAM issuing authority, or 

b. By contacting the NOTAM Flight Service Station at 1-877-4-US-NTMS (1-877-487- 

6867) not more than 72 hours in advance, but not Iess than 24 hours prior to the 

operation, unless otherwise authorized as a special provision. The issuing agency will 

requice the: 

(1) Name and address ofthe pilot filing the NOTAM request 

(2) Location, altitude, or operating area 

(3) Time and nature of the activity. 

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SPECIAL PROVISIONS 

A. CoordinaGon Requirements. 

1. Operator liling and the issuance of required distance (D) NOTAM, will serve as 

advance ATC facility notifieation of UAS operations in an area. 

2. Operator must cancel NOTAMs when UAS operations are completed or will not be 

conducted. 

3. Coordination and deconfliction between Military 17aining Routes (MTRs) is the 

operator's responsibility. When identifying an operational area the operator must 

evaluate whether an MTR will be afPected. In the event tlre UAS operational area 

overlaps (5 miles either sidc of centertine) an MTR, the operator will contact the 

scheduling agency 24 hours in advance to coordinate and deconflict. Approval from 

the scheduting agency is not required. Scheduling agencies are listed in the Area 

Planning AP/I B Military Planning Routes North and South America, if unable to gain 

Small UAS Operations 200 feet and below for 

Coinmercial Purposes March 2015 
FAA FORM 7711-1 UAS COA Attachment Page 5 of 6 

FAA-2015-0060 

access to AP/1B contact the FAA at email address 

mailto:9-AJV-115-UASOreanization(rDfaa rcov with the IRNR routes affected and the 

FAA will provide the scheduling agency information. If prior coordination and 

deconfliction does not take place 24 hours in advance, the operator must remain clear 

of all MTRs. 

B. Communication Requirements. 

1. When operating in the vicinity of an airport without an operating control tower, 

announce your operations in accordance with the FAA Aeronautical Information 

Manual (AIM) 4-I-9 TrafFrc Advisory Practices at Airports without Operating Control 

Towers. 

C. Flight Planning Requirements. 

"I'his COA will allow small UAS (55 pounds or less) operations during daytime VFR 

conditions under the following conditions and limitations: 

(1) At or below 200 feet AGL; and 

(2) Beyond the following distances from the airport refcrence point (ARP) of a public use 

aitport, heliport, gliderport, or seaport listed in the Airport/Facility Direetory, Alaska 

Supplement, or Paeific Chart Supplement of the U.S. Government Flight Information 

Publications. 

a) 5 nautical miles (NM) from an aiiport having an operational control tower; or 

b) 3 NM from an airport having a published instniment flight procedure, but not 

having an operational control tower; or 

c) 2 NM from an airpmt not having a published instrument flight procedure or an 

operational control tov.•er; or 

d) 2 NM from a heliport 

D. Emergency/Contingency Procedures. 

1. Lost Link/Lost Comniunieations Procedures: 

• If the UAS loses comtnunications or loses its GPS signal, thc UA must return to a 

pre-determined location within the private or controlled-access property and land. 

• The PIC tnust abort the flight in the evcnt of unpredicted obstacles or emergencies. 

2. Any incident, accident, or flight operation that transgresses the lateral or vertical 

boundaries defined in this COA must be reported to the FAA via email at 

Small UAS Operations 200 feet and below for 

Commernial Purposes March 2015 
FAA FORM 7711-1 UAS COA Attachment Page 6 of 6 

FAA-2015-0060 

mailto:9-AJV-I 15-UASOreanization(rDfaa.gov within 24 hours. Accidents tnust be reported 

to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) per instructions contained on the 

NTSB Web site: www.ntsb.gov 

AUTHORIZATION 

This Certificate of Waiver or Authorization does not, in itself, waive any Title 14 Code of 

Federal Regulations, nor any state law or local ordinance. Should the proposed operation 

conflict with any state law or local ordinance, or require permission of local authorities or 

property owners, it is the responsibility of the operator to resolve the matter. This COA does not 

authorize flight within Special Use airspace without approval from the seheduling agency. The 

operator is hereby authorized to operate the small Unmanned Aircraft Systam in the National 

Airspace System. 

Small UAS Operations 200 feet and below for 

Commercial Purposes March 2015 
Extended User Manual - eXom 

Revision 1/ April 2015 

Copyright © 2015 senseFly Ltd 

senseFly 

a PaCCot company 

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15 UNDER YOUR SOLE RESPONSIBILITY. 

INFORM YOUftSELF BEFORE USING THE PRODUCT. SOME COUNTRIES MAY HAVE LAWS THAT LIMIT THE USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT TO'LINE-OF-5IGHT' OPERATIONS AND/OR PROHIBIT THE USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT AT ALL 

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Privacy 

Recording and circulating an image of an individual may constitute an infringement of their image and privacy for 

which you can be liable. Ask for authorization before taking pictures of an individual, particularly if you want to keep 

your recordings and/or circulate images on the Web or any other medium. Do nat <irculate degrading images or 

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SenseFly Ltd warrants that the product will be free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of twelve 

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'my.sensefly.com 

Congratulations on your purchase of the eXom, a complex and powerful yet intuitive inspection and mapping system. We take great care to develop and design 

the best possible hardware and software tools for quick, high-quality and easyto-use inspection and aerial mapping. 

The eXom is a technologically advanced drone (UAV, RPAS or UAS) platform capable of manual, stabilised, pre-planned and interactiveflight and is equipped with 

muititude of professional-grade sensors. 

Note: This manual refers to eMotion X and version 3.4 of Postflight 

Terra 30 software. The eXom req uires eMotion X. If you installed eMotion before purchasing your drone, check the version and upgrade if 

necessary. You can consult the Release Notes* for changes included 

in more recent versions ofthe software. 

Package contents 
The standard eXom package contains the following items: 

• tx carrying case with foam protection 

. 1 x eXom 

a 2 sets of 4 spare propellers 

. 4 x Lithium-Polymer battery packs 

s 2 x Lithium-Polymer battery charger (including cables) 

. 4 x spare legs 

• 8 x spare leg caps 

. 1x 2.4/5.8 GHz U5B ground modem for data link (including U5B cable) 

. 1x 2.4 GHz remote control (RC) (including 3 AA batteries) 

. 1x USB cable for interfacing with camera and on-board autopilot 

. 1x eXom User Manual 

Depending on your order, your package may also include other items. Please verify upon delivery that your package is complete. In case of a missing item, please 

contact your eXom reseller immediately. 
Hardware features 
The eXom has the following components: 

• Central body: The core of the eXom, housing its autopilot, image processing logic and communications. 

• Arms:Carbonfibrecompositearmsprovidealightweightandsturdystructure. 

• Power button/status LED & strobe: Power button has an LED built into it 

that ind icates the cu rrent state of the eXom when on the ground and flashes 

brightly in the air. 

• Top cover: Light yet durable cover to protect the drone's electronics. 

• Sensor modufes: Composed of high-speed ultrasonic sensors and navcam, the 5 sensor modules (head, left, right, rear and bottom) are used for 

navigation, landing and situational awareness. 

- Navcam: High-speed optical sensor that constantly analyses the eXom's 

surroundings for navigation and collision avoidance. 

- Ultrasonic transmitter: Emits ultrasound which is then picked up 

by the ultrasonic receiver. 

Ultrasonic receiver: Detects the ultrasound emitted by the transmitter, allowing the eXom to measure its distance from a surface. 

• TripleView head: Stabilised head equipped with: 

Main camera: Capable of capturing high-resolution video and still 

imagery. 

Thermal camera: Capabl e of capturing high-resolution thermal video 

and still imagery. 

- Flash: Able to provide high-intensity Flashes of light. 

Headlamp: Provides lighting forvideo and navigation. 

- Head sensor module: Contains an ultrasonic transmitter, ultrasonic 

receiver and navcam for navigation, landing and situational awareness. 

10 
• Propeller: Used to generate thrust. The eXom's propellers are detachable 

so that they can be easily replaced. 

• Motor: Powers the propellers. 

• Motor mount: Houses the motor and connections and supports the legs 

and shrouding. 

• Motor cooling fins: Provide air cooling for the motors. 

• Shrouding: Made of durable carbon fibre composite, it protects the propellers and surfaces with which the drone might come into contact. 

• Navigation Iights: Indicate the drone's position and orientation. The light 

on the left-hand (port) side shines red and the one on the right-hand (starboard) side shines green. 

• Leg: Supports the eXom on the ground. 

• Cap: Provides protection for the surface the drone lands on. 

• Battery: The eXom is powered by a LiPo (Lithium Polymer) battery stored 

within the battery compartment. 

• Battery compartment: Holds the removable battery. 

• Battery release tabs: Squeeze the tabs to remove the battery. 

• Battery level indicator: Press the button and a series of LEDs indicate the 

battery fevel. 

• Bottom strobe: Positioned on the bottom of the drone, it indicates the 

drone's location when viewed from below. 

• Port access cover: Protects the eXom's ports: 

SD card slot: Holds the SD card on which video and images are stored. 

Autopilot port: Used for upgrading your drone's firmware. 

 Maintenance port: Only for use by senseFly support. 

tl 
Maintenance button: Only for use by senseFly support. 

Maintenance switch: Only for use by senseFly support. 

Caution: The propellers spin at high speeds and can be potentially 

dangerous if they come into contact with exposed skin. Be sure to 

always keep your hands clear of the propellers when the battery is 

installed in your eXom. 

Caution: Proper care of your battery is essential. Please read section 

'Proper battery care' on page 90 before using your drone for the first 

time. 

12 
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13 

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14 
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16 
2.1.1 Visually inspect the drone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

2.1.2 Visually inspect the propellers ........ . .. .. . 

2.1.3 Check sensor and camera operation . . . . . . . . . . . 

2.1.4 Pre-flight remote control check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

2.1.5 How to set the working area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

2.1.6 How to remove the battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

2.2 About mission planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

2.2.1 The setup phase of a flight plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

2.2.2 About mission blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

2.2.3 How to create a mission block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

12.4 How to edit a mission block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

2.2.5 How to assign a mission block to a drone ........ 

2.2.6 How to remove a mission block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

12.7 Choosing a take-off location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

2.2.8 Landing and the home waypoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

22.9 Take-off and start mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

2.2.10 Landing after a mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

2.2.11 Emergencylanding . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . 

3 Manual control of the eXom 50 

3.1 About the remote control ..................... 50 

3.2 About flight assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 

3.3 How to change assistance level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 

3.4 Using the remote control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 

3.5 Take-off with manual flight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 

3.5.1 Manuallanding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 

37 

39 

40 

41 

42 

43 

43 

43 

44 

45 

45 

46 

46 

46 

46 

47 

48 

48 

20 
3.5.2 Motor cut off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 

3.5.3 How to take manual control ofthe eXom in-flight .... 57 

3.5.4 How to climb using the remote control .......... 57 

3.5.5 How to hover using the remote control ......... 57 

3.5.6 How to yaw using the remote control .......... 58 

15.7 How to fly forward using the remote control ....... 58 

3.5.8 How to tilt and fly to the left or right using the remote 

co ntro I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 

3.5.9 How to stop the propellers using the remote control .. 59 

3.5.10 Returning control to eMotion X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 

3.6 In-flight monitoring and control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 

3.7 Powering your eXom off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 

3.8 About in-flight errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 

4 Processing image data 62 

4.1 Importing images and flight data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 

4.2 In-field image quality check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 

11 Advanced functionalities 65 

4.3 Waypoints and their properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 

4.4 3D mission planning using elevation data . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 

4.5 Flight visualization in Google Earth T^^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 

4.6 About the different phases of an autonomous mission ...... 69 

5 eMotionX in•depth guide 71 

5.1 Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 

5.2 Control Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 

2 
III Maintenance and Repair 77 

6 Maintenance and repair ofthe eXom 78 

6.1 Attaching and detaching propellers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 

6.1.1 How to detach a propeller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 

6.1.2 How to attach the propellers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 

6.2 Changing a leg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 

6.3 Changing a ground modem antenna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 

6.4 Cleaning the eXom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 

6.5 Storing the eXom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 

6.6 Full inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 

6.6.1 Check your motors . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 

6.6.2 Check inertial sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 

6.6.3 Check barometric pressure sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 

6.7 Repairing the eXom airframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 

6.8 Proper battery care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 

7 Troubleshooting 92 

7.1 About the autopilots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 

7.2 In-flightwarnings ..... ........... . .. . .. ... 93 

7.3 Critical failures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 

7.4 Improving radio signal communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 

7.5 Losing and locating your eXom in the field . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 

7.6 Reporting a problem with your eXom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 

7.7 Maintenanceschedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 

22 
IV Specifications 105 

1 Software requirements 106 

2 Dronespecifications 107 

23 
24 
Part 1 

Getting 5tarted 

The first part ofthis document introduces you to the eXom and contains the basic 

information you will need to plan and execute a flight. 

A typical mission can be divided into three main phases: 

1. Planning: Every project begins with careful planning, whether it is a quick 

flight over a small area or a multi-stage flight in complex terrain. Section 

'Planning a flight' on the next page describes how to use the Mission Planning feature to quickly generate a flight plan. 

1 Pre-flight preparation: In section'Executing a flight' on page 33 you will 

learn how to prepare your drone for flight. 

3.Executing a flight: Once planning and preparation is complete, it is time 

fo r the drone to perform its flight. Though the eXom can fol low a flight plan 

without interventionfrom take-offto landing, you can also modify its flight 

plan at any point during flight. 

4.Processing image data: The last step in a project is viewing images and 

video, or converting the images taken by your eXom into usable products 

such as precise geo-referenced orthomosaics or 3D terrain models. section 

'Processing image data' on page 62 leads you through the process of obtaining the video and images the drone has recorded, checking ifthe image 

quality suits your needs while still in the field and producing advanced 2D 

and 3D maps. 
Started 

Planning a flight 

Goal of this section: This section introduces the eMotion X software 

used to interface with the eXom. It describes the steps required to fly 

your drone and plan a simple mapping flight. 

1.1 Installing eMotion X, Postflight Terra 3D, and the ground 

modem drivers 

You can download the latest version of eMotion X and PostflightTerra 3D at: 

http://my.sensefly.com 

We recommend that you download and install Google Earth r"^ to take full advantage of the features of eMotion X. You can find more information at the following 

address: 

www.google.com/earth/ 

To install eMotion X on Windows, simply execute the provided installers for eMotion X and PostFlight Terra 3D a nd follow the on-screen i nstructions. The eMotion X 

and PostflightTerra 3D software will be available in the'Start' menu. Drivers for 

the USB ground station ground modem will automatically be installed along with 

eMotion X. 

In case a problem arises after connecting the ground modem to the computer for 

the first time you can find the drivers in one of the following directories (depending on your version of Windows): 

C:\ProgramFiles\senseFly\eMotion X\usb-driver\ 

C:\ProgramFiles (x86)\senseFly\eMotion X\usb-driver\ 

26 
Sidebar _® 

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1.2 The eMotionX interface 

e 

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rtavcamsfeed 

Bonom bar Mapd¢playl 

The main screen of eMotion X is split into several sections: 

. Main Area: The Main Area of eMotionX can display a map with the drone's 

current position, or the feed from the main or thermal cameras. 

s Control Bar: The Control Bar is used to issue various commands to the 

eXom while it is in flight, such as starting the mission phase or holding position. It is also used to display and acknowledge warnings that may occur 

either before or during a flight. 

e Toolbar: The Toolbar contains buttons to switch between 2D and 3D, control the layers, sources or map information and other display options related to the Map Area. eMotion X can use many sources of mapping information. 

• sidebar: The sidebar is split into several tabs, each with a particular function: 

27 
Getting Started 

e Sensor bar: The sensor bar displays the feed from the selected navcam. 

When viewing the main or thermal camera feed in the main area, you can 

also find the map in the sensor bar. 

1.3 About flight plans 

If you want your eXom to fly part of its mission autonomously, you must create a 

flight plan, which is a path defined by a set of waypoints, or points in 3D space, 

and a set of actions that can be performed at or in between waypoints, such as 

taking images, capturing images, carrying out a manoeuvre, proceeding to the 

next waypoint or landing. 

A flight plan is shown in the Map Area using: 

a In 2D view, circles to represent waypoints. 

. In 3D view, vertical lines to representthe altitude ofthe drone with inverted 

cones to represent the waypoint itself. 

1.4 Creating a new flight plan 

eXom flights plans are made up of a series of blocks. Each block is made up of a 

mission polygon and a series of waypoints. 

Note: Each block can be assigned to a different drone. 

To create a flight plan: 

1. Click the Mission Planning tab in the eMotion X sidebar. 

2. Click to create a new block. A new mission polygon, including the required 

waypoints, is automatically calculated and displayed. 

3. Adjust the ground resolution and other mapping and mission parameters 

in the Mission Planning tab to suit your terrain and quality requirements. 

28 
4. Click and drag the corners of the polygon to adjust its size and shape. 

5. Click and drag the home and mission waypoints to adjust their position. 

6. Click waypoints and edit their properties in the sidebar. 

7. Check the resulting flight characteristics in the tab. Once you are satisfied, 

upload the mission plan to the drone by clicking the'Upload' button. 

Click the CtO button in the Toolbar to to toggle 3D mode on and off. 

Review the flight plan to ensure that there is sufficient clearance between the 

flight pian and the ground. 

i Caution: NeithereMotionX nor the automatic mission planning tool 

are awa re of obstacles in the area. I n addition, if you do not use elevation data, the mission planning tool assumes that the mission area is 

flat and at the same altitude than the take-off location. It is also not 

aware of any legal restrictions (such as minimum or maximum altitude) that may apply in your region. The resulting flight plan should 

be carefully reviewed in order to avoid any collision with uneven terrain or tall objects such as buildings, and to comply with local regulations. 

The final step after you have prepared a flight plan is to save it to a file that you 

can load into the eXom when you are in the fieid. 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 About the working area 

The cylindrical volume of space in which the drone is allowed to fly is known as 

the working area. Attempting to leave this area (fly out of the circle or over the 

height limit defined) will cause the drone to raise a warning and carry out a security action. The working area is represented by: 

. In 2D view, a large semi-transparent grey circle. 

RM 
Started 

• In 3D view, a large semi-transparent grey cylinder. 

See section'Waypoints and their properties' on page 65 for more information on 

waypoints and the various symbols presented in the Map Area. 

A complete eXom flight plan is divided into two separate phases: the setup phase 

and the mission phase. The mission phase includes waypoints and actions related 

to mapping and capturing images. The setup phase includes waypoints and actions related to take-off and landing. The setup phase is usually planned in the 

field, and is explained in detail in section'About mission planning' on page 43. 

1.6 The mission phase of a flight 

To create a mapping flight for the systematic coverage of an area use the automatic mission planning feature of eMotion X. By simply positioning a rectangle 

around the area you would like to cover, eMotion X will generate a mission plan 

optimised for the ground resolution that you desire. 

Note: For more complex terrain and missions, eMotion X has the ability to set polygonal mission areas of any size and shape, and to automatically adjust waypoint altitudes based on elevation data. 

Follow these steps to automatically setup waypoints for a mapping mission: 

1. Select the Mission Planning tab from the Sidebar. A grey zone will appear 

in the Map Area to designate the mission area to cover. Information such 

as size and position is overlaid on the area. A mission plan, including the 

required waypoints, is automatically calculated and displayed to preview 

the mission plan that will be created. 

2. Adjust the location, size, and shape of the mission area. The area can be 

relocated by dragging the gray zone. The four sq uare handles on the edges 

of the area can be used to resize it and the round handles on the corners of 

the area can be used to rotate it. As you adjust the area the mission plan 

preview is continuously updated. 

30 
Planning a flight 

3. Adjust the mapping and mission parameters in the Mission Planning tab to 

suit your terrain and quality requirements. 

4. Check the resulting flight characteristics in the tab. Once you are satisfied, 

assign the mission plan to the drone by clicking the k Assign button. 

5. Click the (& button in the Toolbar to to toggle 3D mode on and off. Review 

theflight plan to ensure that there is sufficientclearance between theflight 

plan and the ground. 

Caution: eMotion X as well as the automatic mission planning tool 

are not aware of any obstacles that may exist in the area. In addition, 

when not using elevation data, the mission planning tool assumes 

that the m ission area is flat and at the same altitude than the take-off 

location, lt is also not aware of any legal restriction (such as mini mum 

or maximum altitude) that may exist in your region. The resulting 

flight plan shou ld be careful ly reviewed in order to avoid any collision 

with uneven terrain or tall objects such as buildings, and to comply 

with local regulations. 

1.6.1 Getting ready for a mission 

Before leaving for the field to perform a fl ight, be sure to fu Ily charge all your eXom 

batteries. When delivered, the eXom battery may not be fully charged. 

To charge eXom's battery pack, connect it to the battery charger provided. 

The charger provided independently balances the voltage of each ofthe cells contained in the battery pack to ensures optimal performance and battery life. 

If you plan on performing a flight away from an Internet connection it is useful 

to pre-load map tiles by selecting'Download maps..: from the e file menu. 

More details on how to take advantage of the various map sources available in 

eMotionX can be found in section 'Toolbar'on page 71. 

31 
Getting Started 

1.6.2 How to pick the eXom up 

Caution: Switch the eXom off before picking it up. Never attempt to 

pick the eXom up while the propellers are turning. 

The eXom has been designed to be picked up one-handed at the narrowest point 

on the central body. 

32 
t] 

2 Executing a flight 

Goal of this section: This section describes how to prepare your 

eXom for flight, take off, monitor and control from the air, and initiate 

an autonomous landing. 

Note: We recommend that you perform your first flight in a large 

obstacle-free area and limit the length of the mission in order to familiarise yourself with the eXom in flight. 

2.0.3 Preparing the eXom for flight 

The eXom's advanced yet simple design means it can go from the box to being 

ready for flight in minutes. We recommend that you perform the following steps 

before every flight to ensure that the platform is best prepared for flight. 

2.0.4 Pre-flight checklist 

• Weatherchecked. 

• Propellers attached. 

• Charged eXom battery installed. 

• Fresh AA batteries in the remote control. 

• General inspection complete. 

• Drone powered on. 

• Drone connected to eMotion X through the ground modem*. 

" If you only intend to fly manually, although a connection to eMotion X is not necessary, it is highly 

recommended forflight monitoring and drone location tracking. 

33 
Started 

• Main camera and thermal camera are ready to capture images and video. 

• Images are successfully streaming from all navcams. 

• Ultrasonic sensors are all working correctly. 

• Takeoff zone is free of obstacles. 

• An appropriate working area has been set. 

2.0.5 Weathercheck 

Before each flight, you should be aware of the weather conditions. The eXom 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 velocity ortall tree movements can help you to estimate the 

wind speed once you are out in the field. 

Weather forecasts may use various units to measure wind speed. As a reference, 

Caution: Do not fly eXom missions if the wind speed exceeds 8 m/s 

(29 km/h, 18 mph, 16 kts). 

Caution: The eXom is not designed to fly in temperatures above 

40° C. Avoid exposing the drone to high temperature for prolonged 

periods of time. In particular, leaving the drone exposed to the sun 

or in a car should be avoided. 

2.0.6 Flying conditions 

Avoid flying the eXom in the following conditions: 

• In high winds. 

34 
ri 

• When there is precipitation, for example, rain, snow or hail. 

• In very dusty conditions. 

• If sand is being blown into the air. 

• In very low light conditions. 

2.0.7 Landing conditions 

Do not attempt to land the eXom on the following: 

• Area with less than t m clearance on all sides of the eXom. 

• Surface that does not allow all 4 feet to contact the ground. 

• Muddy, wet, dusty or sandy area. 

• Into water or deep snow. 

• A steeply inclined surface. 

2.0.8 How to install the eXom's battery 

Place the eXom on the ground or on a level surface in the vicinity of the take-off 

location. Slide the battery firmly into the battery compartment, making sure that 

it clicks into place. 

~ Caution: Take care to keep clear of the propellers, in case they unexpectedly start spinning. 

Note: Only insert the battery when you are ready for start-up. Do not 

leave the battery connected for extended periods of time when the 

drone is on the ground, as this may discharge the batteries and cause 

irreparable damage to them. 

35 
Started 

2.0.9 How to power on the eXom 

Press the power button. The eXom will perform an automatic self-check of its sensors and acquire satellite signals. Do not move the drone during these tests. It is 

important that the drone is not inclined morethan 10 degrees in order to start up 

properly. Pre-flight checks may last from a few seconds to several minutes in the 

case of poor satellite signal reception. 

Note: Satellite positioning signals are not required for manual flight 

using the remote control. If the satellite check fails, you can still fly 

manually, but with only limited assistance from the drone. 

Caution: Do not attempt to use eMotion X to fly eXom in areas where 

satellite positioning signals (GPS/GLONASS) are unavailable, for example, indoors. 

Note: If there was any problem during the pre-flight checks performed by the drone this will be indicated by a Pre-flight error in eMotion X. 

2.0.10 How to connect to eMotion X 

Start by connecting the USB ground modem to your computer. Then launch eMotion X, which will display the Connection window. Select the eXom connection 

profile, choose the corresponding FTDI port and click'OK'. 

Note: Every eXom is paired with the ground modem it is delivered 

with, and will only work with that particular modem. The name of the 

FTDI port corresponding to the ground modem is labelled as'eXomSERIAL; where SERIAL is the serial number of the drone it is paired 

with. 

Once your drone has set its position using satellite signals, an icon of the drone 

36 
t] 

will appear at its location on the map. If the drone's location is not on the map 

you can click the'A' button from the Toolbar to centre the map on the drone. 

2.0.11 How to change the remote control's batteries 

1. The battery cover is on the back of the remote control. Slide the battery 

coveroff. 

2. Remove any used batteries. 

1 Replace them with fresh batteries, following the polarity (+/-) indication on 

the inside of the battery compartment. 

4. Replace the battery cover. 

Caution: Always change all the batteries at once. Do not mix fresh 

and used batteries. 

2.1 General inspection 

A general inspection should be performed before everyflight. It is also good practice to perform a full airframe check regularly to keep your eXom in good shape. 

See section'Full inspection' on page 87 for more details. 

2.1.1 Visually inspect the drone 

The sensors and lenses must be clean and unobstructed for them to work correctly. 

e Remove the battery from the drone. 

. Pick the drone up from above, holding the central body at its narrowest 

point. 

37 
Started 

. Visually inspect each ofthe 5 vision sensors. 

. Visually inspect the 5 ultrasonic transmitters and receivers. 

o Visually inspect the main camera. 

. Visually inspect the thermal camera. 

o Check that all propellers are properly locked on. 

o Check that the legs are in good condition and properly attached with their 

capsin place. 

o Checkthat the shrouding is in good condition and properly attached at the 

leg clips. 

o Check that the top cover is attached and in good condition. 

o Ensure that nothing is at risk of touching the spinning propellers. 

o Check that the eXom's main body is in good condition. 

. Check that the eXom s head is undamaged and turns freely on both axes. 

e Check that all LEDs and strobes are clean and free of obstacles. 

. Replace the battery, ensuring it clicks into the battery compartment. 

38 
2.1.2 Visually inspect the propellers 

New propeller: Worn propeller: 

OK to fly replace 

39 
Started 

Damaged propeller: Cracked propeller: 

Replace Replace 

. Replace propellers that are considerably worn down. 

. Replace propellers that have many deep indentations on their leading edge. 

• Replace cracked propellers. 

2.1.3 Check sensor and camera operation 

. Insert the drone's battery. 

e Holding the drone's central body from above at it's narrowest point, place 

it on the ground and power it on. 

. Launch eMotion X and connect to your drone. 

40 
• In eMotion X, switch to interactive mode. 

• Check the vision sensors. 

Clickto activate each vision sensor and view the resulting video feed. 

• Check the bottom sensor module's ultrasonic sensor. 

View the bottom sensor module's distance reading in eMotion X. It should 

show that the ground is close to the sensor. 

• Check the front, left, right and rear sensor module's ultrasonic sensors. 

Walk in a circle around your drone, about 2 m away from it, while viewing 

the sensor module readings in eMotion X (for example, with your computer 

and ground modem in your hands). 

The sensor d isplay i n eMotion X should show that there is an object approximately 2 m away from each sensor in turn. 

• Checkthe main camera. 

View the main camera's video feed. 

• Check the thermal camera. 

View the thermal camera's video feed. 

2.1.4 Pre-flight remote control check 

Ifyou plan to usethe remote control during a flight we recommend thatyou check 

it before flight. 

1. Place the drone in a safe and suitable take-off location. 

2. Insert the battery and power on the drone. 

3. Launch eMotion X and connect to the drone. 

4. If you are not comfortable piloting the drone will only basic assistance, 

switch Extended Assistance on in the Flight Parameters tab. 

41 
Started 

5. Switch the remote control on. 

6. Slide the take off/land slider up. The drone will take off. Allow it to spin 

around once to calibrate its compass. 

7. Use the remote control to carry out some small, simple manoeuvres (yaw, 

tilt, climb, descend). 

8. Slidethetakeoff/Iandsliderdown.Thedronewillland. 

9. Turn the remote control off. 

~ Caution: If you detect a problem with the remote control, land the 

drone immediately. If you cannot land with the remote control, click 

LAND NOW in eMotionX. Do not attempt to fly with a malfunctioning 

remote control. 

Caution: Always keep the area around the propeller clear of obstacles and body parts to prevent injury. 

2.1.5 How to set the working area 

• Launch eMotion X and connect to your drone. 

• In eMotion X, click and drag the working area so that its centre is at the 

posltion you want. 

• Click the Parameters tab. 

• Set the working area radius. 

• Set the working area ceiling. 

42 
2.1.6 How to remove the battery 

1. Grip the battery release tabs and squeeze them together. 

2. Pull the battery out. 

Caution: Never try to remove the battery while the propellers are 

turning. 

2.2 About mission planning 

Use eMotion X to build the mission blocks, waypoints and optionally, the actions 

that you want your eXom's to carry out during the mission. 

eXom m issions consist of one or m any m ission blocks. Each block can have a different setup phase, a different purpose and you can assign each block to a different 

drone. A mission might include, for example, several blocks for inspecting several 

surfaces and objects, and a horizontal mapping block to gather mapping data of 

the surrounding area. 

2.2.1 The setup phase of a flight plan 

The setup phase of a mission block includes the following locations: 

. Take-off location: The point from which the drone takes off, automatically 

set to the location calculatedfrom satellite positioning signals (GPS/GLONASS) 

by the drone when it is powered on. This location defines the altitude of 

0 m/ATO (ATO stands for above take-off); the altitudes of all other waypoints, when defined in m/ATO, are referenced to the altitude of this location. 

. startwaypoint:Thefirstpointthatthedronefliestowardswhenthemission is launched. 

43 
Started 

. Home waypoint: The safe point for the drone to return and hover in case 

of emergency. The drone will land directly below this waypoint at the end 

of an autonomous flight. 

• Mission waypoints: The series of waypoints that define the mission. 

Immediately after take-off the drone will climb to an altitude of 1 m. 

• If the first mission block is a mapping block 

The drone pauses briefly then flies to the start waypoint and follows the 

flight plan you have set up. 

• If the first mission block is not a mapping block 

The drone hovers, awaiting your command. 

Caution: The drone's ability to maintain its position in a hover depends on the conditions. There m ust be good lighting conditions and 

good satellite positioning signal reception. 

Caution: If you are using only the basic level of manual assistance, 

you must be prepared to take immediate control of the drone as soon 

as it reaches 1 m above the ground. It will not stabilise itself. 

2.2.2 About mission blocks 

Mission blocks have the following properties: 

• Description 

The name you have given to the block. 

• Area 

The surface area of the block. 

• Resolution 

The ground resolution that you want the images captured to have. 

44 
Executinq a 

• Overlap 

The percentage you want one image to overlap the next. 

• Use elevation data 

Check this checkbox to have eMotion X automatically set mission height 

according to elevation data. 

• Reverse flight direction 

Check this checkbox ifyou want your drone to fly the mission in the opposite direction to the one chosen automatically by eMotionX. 

• Perpendicularlines 

Check this checkbox if you want to double the number of images and increase overlap by flying a second set of flight lines perpendicular to the 

first. 

2.2.3 How to create a mission block 

In the Mission Planning tab, click `k Add mission block and choose the type of 

block: 

. Horizontal Mapping 

Defi ne a mission polygon and eMotion X will autom atically set out the waypoints and flight lines. 

2.2.4 How to edit a mission block 

1. Click ® to expand the mission block you want to edit. 

2. Click A Edit. 

3. Edit the mission block fields. 

45 
Started 

2.2.5 How to assign a mission block to a drone 

1. Click A.. 

2. Choose the drone that want to carry out that mission block. 

2.2.6 How to remove a mission block 

1. Click 0 to expand the mission block you want to edit. 

Z. Click Q.. 

3. Choose O Remove. 

2.2.7 Choosing a take-off location 

It is important to carefully select the place you take off from, the Start waypoint 

and the Home waypoint to ensure your drone remains at a safe distance from 

obstacles. 

Select a take-off location clear of obstacles (buildings, rocks, power lines, hills, 

trees, etc.) within a distance of at least 10 m in the all directions. 

2.2.8 Landing and the home waypoint 

The Home waypoint is used both as the location under which the drone will land 

in Fully Autonomous mode and as a safety position in case ofan in-flightwarning. 

Caution: The ground sensor can only provide usable feedback in 

daylight conditions above flat terrain that contains enough visual texture. If these conditions are not met the drone cannot ensure a safe 

landing. 

The precision of the landing will depend on the satellite positioning accuracy, 

lighting conditions, the ground's visual texture and the wind. Define a security 

46 
perimeter around the landing point. Place the Home waypoint in a location that 

has no obstacles within a radius of 10 m to give the drone enough space to land. 

Ensure that the entire landing area is flat to allow the ground sensor to function 

properly. 

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 the Home 

waypoint's altitude, and climb towards that highest altitude (if required). Once it 

reaches this highest altitude it will then fly towards the Home waypoint. 

Due to this behaviour, the altitude of the Home waypoint should be selected with 

care; it should be at least 20 m higher than the surrounding obstaclesto avoid the 

risk of a crash, but should not be set too high to reduce the effect of potentially 

high winds and altitude and to prevent the drone from getting lost. Alternatively, 

you can change the altitude transition behaviour within the Setup Phase tab. See 

section'Waypoints and their properties' on page 65 for more information on altitude transition behaviours and how to modify them. 

2.2.9 Take-off and start mission 

Once you've planned your mission and the eXom status LED is solid green your 

drone is ready to take off. 

• Click TAKE OFF on the Control Bar. 

• Allowthedronetotakeoffandcalibrateitscompass(itspinsaroundonce). 

• Click START MISSION. 

t Caution: Keep clear of the drone during take-off. 

i Caution: Never attempt a hand-held take-off. 

' eitherautomaticallyduetoanln-flightwarningormanuallyusingeMotionX 

47 
Started 

After take-off, the drone switches into waypoint navigation mode and flies to the 

Start waypoint, then proceeds with the mission. 

2.2.10 Landing after a mission 

After finishing its mission the drone will return to the Home waypoint and automatically initiate a landing sequence. Once on the ground, the propellers will 

stop. 

The vision sensors must have sufficient light and texture to accurately detect the 

drone's height above the ground. Ensure that the sensors are clear of dirt or other 

obstructions. Ensure that there is a high-contrast surface in the landing zone. Do 

not attempt to land on low-texture surfaces such as snow or clean sand. 

Disconnect the battery from the drone before picking it up. We recommend you 

immediately import the images and flight data after each flight (see section'Importing images and flight data' on page 62) before putting the eXom back in its 

case for storage. 

2.2.11 Emergency landing 

Return to home and land 

If you need to abort the mission and land, for example, in case of an emergency, 

click GO LAND on the control bar. 

The drone will immediately fly in a straight line to the Home waypoint, then descend vertically, land and power off its motors. 

Caution: In most circumstances, we recommend setting the Home 

waypoint to be the highest waypoint in the mission. This reduces the 

risk of collision as the drone returns to the Home waypoint. 

Land immediately at current location 

If you need the drone to land immediately without first returning to the Home 

waypoint, do one of the following: 

5!:] 
Executina a 

s Rapidly click the LAND NOW button on the Control Bar three times (tripleclick). 

. switch on the remote control and pilot the drone to the ground. 

Caution: If you decide to switch on the remote control, make sure 

you have the level of assistance you are expecting - basic or extended. 

Caution: The drone will immediately descend at a moderately fast 

rate of descent. There is a high risk of collision with any objects or 

people that are directly under the drone. 

m 
Gettinq Started 

3 Manual control of the eXom 

Goal of this section: This section describes how to use the remote 

control to manually control the drone, with basic or extended manual 

assistance. 

Caution: Manual operation of the eXom requires a moderate level of 

piloting skil Is. We recommend several practice flights, especially with 

only basic assistance, before you first inspection mission. 

3.1 About the remote control 

By using the remote control, it is possible to override the drone's autopilot and 

fly manually. With extended manual assistance, the sticks of the remote control 

are used to send commands to the drone, which acts on those commands while 

maintaining stable flight. Without only basic manual assistance, the sticks of the 

remote control directly set the motors'thrust. 

Caution: Do not turn the remote control on without it being held in 

the hands of a pilot who is ready to take immediate manual control 

of the drone. Turn the remote control off before putting it down. 

Caution: The remote control emits an audible low-battery warning. 

If you hear this warning, take action immediately; land your drone 

and change the batteries. 

Manual control of the eXom can be achieved at any time if the drone is within 

range of the remote'. 

' see section'Drone specifications' on page 107 forthe range of the remote control 

50 
Manual control of the eXom 

*Do not touch these controls 

Manual contml (power) on/off ~— 

TaheofVland 

itrigger 

Motor cut 

(Press+ho 

Ya

n 

Pitch 

hme u 

Right stick 

51 
Started 

Eci ..... EDE 

~ 

.~. 

C~ E3ID ~F*3ID 

3.2 About flight assistance 

There are 2 levels of flight assistance: 

e Basic assisted manual control 

. Extended assisted manual control 

With extended manual flight assistance, the sticks on the remote control set the 

desired speed, pitch, turn rate and climb or sink rate. These commands are then 

transferred to control signals for the propellers by the a utopi lot based on feedback 

from its sensors. This control scheme simplifies control ofthe eXom. 

Manua I flight without assistance allows you to have direct control over the eXom's 

propellers, overriding control from the on-board autopilots. The left stick controls 

the thrust and yaw. The right stick controls pitch and roll. The drone only assists 

with maintaining a flat pitch/roll. 

52 
Manual control of the eXom 

Caution: Although assistance is provided, the pilot must still be 

aware of obstactes in the area, the drone's proximity to the ground, 

the inversion of control commands when the drone is flying towards 

the pilot and the distance between the drone and the pilot. 

33 How to change assistance level 

Choose Manual control mode from the Parameters tab in the sidebar. 

3.4 Using the remote control 

The following table describes the drone's response to your inputs on the remote 

control. 

• Push forward on a stick means push the stick away from you (or up in the 

above diagram). 

• Pull back on a stick means pull the sticktowards you (or down in the above 

diagram). 

• Release a stick means let go and let the stick spring back into its neutral 

position. 

• To press on a stick means push down on thetopof the stick,alongthe stick's 

axis. You will feel a click. 

• Turn (yaw) direction is given as if you were on board the drone (from the 

drone's frame of reference). 

53 
Started 

Table 7: Remote Control Functions 

ttem User's actiun 

6ron6response 

Eutended Basic 

assistance assistance 

A:Leftstick Pushforward Climb Increasethrust 

Pull back Descend Decrease thrust 

Push left Rotate left Yaw to left 

(port) 

Push right Rotate right Yaw to right 

(starboard) 

Release Maintain Neutral thrust 

altitude 

Press+hold (1 s) Motor cut off 

B: Right stick Push forward Fly forward Pitch forward 

Pull back Fly backwards Pitch backward 

Push left Fly left Roll to left 

(port) 

Pull back Fly right Roll to right 

(starboard) 

Release Maintain level Flat pitch/roll 

flight 

54 
Manual control of the eXom 

Press No response No response 

A+B: Both Release Hover Neutral thrust 

sticks 

C: Take off/ Push forward On the ground: take off 

land 

While landing: abort landing 

Pull back Land 

While taking off: abort take-off 

D:Custom Push forward User defined 

Pull back User defined 

E:Auto photo Push left Off 

sequence 

Push right On 

F:Disabled Do not use 

G: set Do not press 

Caution: Flying with the remote control, especially with only basic 

manual assistance requires some piloting experience. 

55 
Getting Started 

3.5 Take-off with manuai flight 

1. Prepare the drone for flight as described in section 'Preparing the eXom for 

flight' on page 33 while keeping the remote control turned off. 

2. Take the remote control in your hands and switch it on. Leave the sticks 

alone, in their neutral position. 

3. Place the eXom in its take-off location and power it on using the power 

button. The status LED will indicate the progress of the drone's autopilot's 

start-up sequence. 

4. Push the take off slider (C) on the remote control up. The drone will climb 

to 1 m. 

5. Leave the sticks alone while the drone spins around once to calibrate its 

internal compass. 

With extended assistance: 

The drone will hover awaiting commands from the remote control. 

With only hasic assistance: 

You havefull manual control ofthedrone. You must immediately adjust the drone's 

position using the remote control. 

Note: Although it is posslble, do not use the remote control to take 

control of the drone before compass calibration is complete. Flying 

an uncalibrated dronecan result in it rotating (yawing) unexpectedly. 

3.5.1 Manual ianding 

Caution: We recommend you perform a standard landing procedure 

using eMotionX whenever possible. 

Pilotyour drone down to the ground. Approach the ground at low vertical speed. 

Once on the ground, press and hold the left stickfor 1 s to stop the motors. 

56 
Manual control of the eXom 

3.5.2 Motor cut off 

Pressing the left stick down until it clicks and holding for 1 s will cause the eXom's 

motors to stop. 

Caution: Only stop the motors when the drone is on the ground. AIways stop the motors before picking the drone up. 

Caution: Ifthe drone is in the air, only use this feature in an absolute 

emergency. The drone will im mediately drop out of the sky and risks 

damaging or injuring anything or anyone beneath it. Even at low altitude, using this feature will cause irreparable damage to the drone. 

3.5.3 How to take manual control of the eXom in-flight 

Caution: Make sure that the level of manual assistance you want is 

activated in eMotionX's Parameters tab. 

If your drone is already in the air, switch the remote control (RC) on. You will immediately have remote control ofthe drone. 

3.5.4 How to climb using the remote control 

Push the left stick up and the drone will climb. 

3.5.5 How to hover using the remote control 

Release both sticks, allowing then to spring back to their central position. The 

drone will maintain a hover. 

Caution: lf you have selected only basic manual assistance, you must 

maintain the drone's position and altitude manually using the remote 

control. 

57 
Started 

Caution: lf your drone is at altitude in a zone that has little or no satellite positioning signal coverage, extended manual assistancewill not 

be able to automatically maintain a hover. You must use the right 

and left sticks to maintain a hover manually. 

3.5.6 How to yaw using the remote control 

Push the left stick to the right to turn the drone on its axis to the right (clockwise 

when viewed from above). 

Push the left stickto the left to turn the drone on its axis to the left (anticlockwise 

when viewed from above). 

3.5.7 How to fly forward using the remote control 

Release the left stick, allowing it to spring back to its central position. Push the 

right stick up and the drone will tilt and fly forward. 

Caution: By releasing the left stickwith extended manual assistance, 

you are instructing the drone to maintain its altitude. With only basic 

assistance, you must use the left stick to provide enough additional 

thrust to maintain altitude. 

35.8 How to tilt and fly to the left or right using the remote control 

Release the left stick, allowing it to spring back to its central position. Push the 

right stick to the left or right and the drone will tilt and fly in that direction. 

Caution: By releasi ng the left stick with extended manual assistance, 

you are instructing the drone to maintain its altitude. With only basic 

assistance, you must use the left stick to provide enough additional 

thrust to maintain altitude. 

Pv 
Manual control of the eXom 

3.5.9 How to stop the propellers using the remote control 

Press the left stick down and hold for 1 s. 

Caution: Only stop the propellers once the drone has landed or in an 

emergency. Stopping the propellers while the drone is in flight will 

cause it to fall out of the sky. 

3.5.10 Returning control to eMotion X 

To retu rn control to eMotion X, press the power on/off button to switch the remote 

control off. 

6101 
Started 

3.6 In-flight monitoring and control 

You can monitor and control your drone while in-flight through eMotion X using 

the map, video streams, ultrasonic sensor readouts and the Flight Monitoring tab 

in the Sidebar. 

The Map Area displays the current position of your drone, updated live as the 

drone executes its flight. 

Note: AII waypoints, image locations and flight paths displayed in 

eMotion X are a reflection of the data contained within the drone autopilot. If at any point the connection between eMotion X and the 

drone is lost, the drone will by default continue its planned flight, 

including the imaging mission and the selected automatic landing, 

fully a utonomously. If you would like the drone to retu rn to the Home 

waypoint instead of continuing its mission when it detects a loss of 

connection you may set the appropriate parameter in eMotionX. 

During the Mission phase of an autonomous flight the eXom will automatically 

take pictures at pre-defined moments based on the parameters that were defined 

during mission planning. 

At the top of the Map Area is the Control Bar, which can be used at any time to 

send commands to your drone as well as to acknowledge warning and failure 

messages if they occur. During a fully autonomous flight the eXom will control 

its flight autonomously from take-off to landing and you do not need to use any 

of the control buttons. They can however be useful in unexpected situations to 

temporarily hold position by pressing the HOLD button or to send the drone to 

the Home or Start waypoints with the'GO TO HOME WPT' or'GO TO START WPT' 

buttons, respectively. Detailed descriptions of the buttons and their effects on 

the drone are described in section'Control Bar' on page 73. 

3.7 Powering your eXom off 

Wait for the propellers to stop spinning, then press the power button on the top 

of the eXom. 

m 
Manual control of the eXom 

Caution: Never attempt to power the drone off using its built-in 

power button while the propellers are spinning. 

3.8 About in-flight errors 

The d rone can encounter two types of error messages while flying: In-flight warnings and Critical failures. In-flight warnings typically indicate a dangerous situation such as a low battery or strong winds and typically result in a security action such as a return to the Home waypoint. Critical failures occur only when the 

d rone's ability to fly is severely com promised, such as a loss of satellite positioning 

signals or an empty battery. When a critical failure arises, the drone will immediately perform an emergency landing. 

Caution: We recommend that you familiarise yourself with the possible in-flight errors to have a better understa nding of what happens 

if they occur in the field. A full list of possible In-flight warnings and 

Critical failures and the drone's reaction to them is described in section'In-flight warnings' on page 93 and section'Critical failures' on 

page 96. 

Note: It is i mportantto keep track of the location of the drone during 

a Critical failu re untii 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 locating your 

eXom in the field' on page 101. 
Started 

4 Processing image data 

4.1 Importing images and flight data 

The next step to creating mapping products, after completing a flight, is to import 

the raw images and log files to a computer. 

eMotion X 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 X. Alternatively, click on 

the Q button in the Toolbar and select'Flight Data Manager..: 

Follow these steps to import data from the drone: 

• Step 1- Select a flight: If the flight was monitored from the computer 

you are using to import images then the flight is saved within the local 

database. Select the date that the flight took place. A list of flights (including number of images taken) from that date will appear in the combo 

box, select the one you wish to import. 

• Step 2- Create a directory: Choose a directory name that uniquely identifies your flight (e.g. the date, the name of the area, etc.). 

. Step3-Preparedataforimport: Remove the SD card from the drone and 

insert it into your computer's SD card slot. A new storage drive will appear 

on your computer. 

Select'I m port from SD-ca rd reader: Alternatively, tra nsfer the i mages 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 the Flight Data Manager are correct. You may select logs 

manually if they are not correctly detected. 

E$ 
data 

. Step 5- Import images: Confirm that the images corresponding to your 

flight were found and matched to the Drone Flight Log correctly. 

e Step6-Selectoutputs:Choosetheoutputactionstoexecuteandfilesto 

create. Geo-tagging images is necessary to create geoinfo, KML and PostflightTerra 3D files. 

o Step 7 Eject the SD-card drive before removing the SD-card. You can now 

open the KML file in Google Earth'M or the project in PostflightTerra 3D for 

further processing. 

4.2 In-field image quality check 

PostAightTerra 3D software', available as a free download with the eXom package, 

can be used to rapidly create a Quality Report directly in the field. The Quality 

Report that is automatically generated aswell as the orthomosaic provide immediate feedback on the quality ofthe images gathered during your mission. 

You can open a project for processing i n PostflightTerra 3D directly from the Flight 

Data Manager after importing your data by clicking the'Open project in Terra' 

button. You will now see the main PostFlight Terra 3D window. The position of 

your images will appear as red dots in the Map Area of PostFlightTerra 3D. 

After importing flight data and images you can create a PostflightTerra 30 project 

by following these steps: 

1. Launch Postflight Terra 3D and start the New project wizard by selecting 

'New project' from the'Project' menu. 

2. Select the samefolder in which you saved the images and Drone Flight Log 

as the location for the project (the'Create in' field). Choose a name for your 

project, preferably the same as the name of the folder and select the'New 

project' button. Click'Next'. 

3. Add the images taken during your last eXom mission. Click'Next'. 

' powered by Pix4D; see section'Installing eMotion X, PostllightTerra 3D, and the ground modem 

drivers' on page 26 for installation instructions 

63 
Started 

4. Load the geolocation data from the Drone Flight Log file (with extension 

.bbx) by clicking on'From file..: and selecting the file. Click'Next; then click 

'Finish' in the next screen, You will now see the main PostFlight Terra 3D 

window. The position of your images will appear as red dots in the Map 

Area of PostflightTerra 3D. 

To create a Quality Report while in the field bring up the local processing panel by 

selecting'Local processing' from the'Process' menu or by clicking the icon in 

the Toolbar. Select only the'Initial project processing' 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. 

PostflightTerra 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 information to decide whether further imaging flights are required while you are still in the field. The quality report will be 

displayed in a new window (click the icon in the Toolbar if it does not appear). 

64 
Part 11 

Advanced functionalities 

4.3 Waypoints and their properties 

The eXom 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 behavewhen reaching them. Theentire listofwaypoints is stored in the drone autopilot and can be remotely edited using eMotionX. 

In eMotion X every waypoint is defined by the following parameters 

4.4 3D mission planning using elevation data 

In Fully Autonomous mode, eMotion X has the ability to take into account elevation data to set the altitude of mission waypoints and the resulting flight lines of a 

mapping mission. This not only improves the resulting ground resolution but also 

increases mission safety (particularly in uneven terrain) by keeping a more even 

height between the drone and the ground. 

You can display elevation data by clicking on the '>+ button in the Toolbar. eMotion X's default Improved SRTM elevation data will be downloaded as tiles from 

senseFly's servers and overlaid above the map as a colourmap°. You can adjust 

the scale and opacity of the colourmap by using the associated buttons in the 

bottom-right corner of the Map Area. 

" eMotionXmust be connected to the internet. Once downloaded, elevation tiles are cached and can 

then be used off-line. 
Advanced functionalities 

Auto-adjust colormap —' Elevation colourmap 

~ 

r Change opacity 

90 180 2 ~N 3"00 

{g• 

yw ~ . ...... .. =141i . 

Caution: eMotionX'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, cartographic data, etc.). This data covers nearly aH emerged land except 

the territories below 56° 5 latitude and the territory of the Russian 

Federation above 60° N latitude. This data may contain inaccuracies of several meters, and does not contain data on obstacles such 

as buildings or trees. We highly recommend that you check your 

flight plan thoroughly, in 2D and 3D, to ensure sufficient clearance 

between the flight plan and the ground. SenseFly Ltd provides no 

guarantee regarding the accuracy of the elevation data and it is the 

operator's sole responsibility to ensure a safe flight trajectory and altitude. 

Activate the 3D mission planning feature by selecting the'Use elevation data' parameter in the mapping mission block. Elevation data is used to adjust every mission waypoint altitude as follows: 

1. The flight planner uses elevation data to find the maximal terrain elevation 

under the current waypoint, the previous waypoint and the flight line that 

connects the two. 

1 This maximum value is increased by the target altitude value, and the result 

is set as the altitude of the current waypoint. 

One way to increase the resolution and accuracy of the elevation data is to fly 

a first mission at high altitude and then create a dataset using PostFlightTerra 3D. 

You can then automatically import the data into eMotion X by selecti ng'Send DSM 

to eMotion' from the'Process' menu within Postflight Terra 3D. The dataset can 

PT 
data 

then be enabled using the 1i menu in the Toolbar. eMotionX will use this custom 

dataset (wherever it is available) to set waypoint altitudes instead of its default 

Improved SRTM elevation data. 

Note: It is recommended to visually compare imported elevation 

datasets with the default Improved SRTM elevation layer of eMotion X 

in order to detect possible mismatches. This comparison should be 

done with a colourmap opacity value of 100%. 

More advanced controls of imported datasets are available in the'Elevation data' 

panel of the Preferences pane of the Q menu. From this panel you can add, 

remove, activate/deactivate or reorder overlays. eMotionX uses the top-most elevation data layerto calculate altitude for each waypoint and flight line, with eMotion X's default Improved SRTM elevation dataset always considered the bottom 

layer. 

i~:,:. .... 

o e l ..k .,m, ,.~,,., 

® , x~°,. a . ~a~ ,a 

`°"' "" s, ~ Custom elevation 

al. data 

s ' 

~~dsm 

r

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67 
Advanced functionalities 

4.5 Flight visualization in Googte Earthr' 

eMotion X i ncl udes a n interface with Google Earth r"^ to help with flight plan verification and visualization, particularly in uneven terrain. Clicking on the ~P button 

in the Toolbar will open Google Earthr^^ and zoom to the current position of the 

drone. The current position of drone, its planned trajectory, the working area circle and all waypoints currently uploaded to the drone (including Take-Off, Start 

and Home) are displayed within Google Earth 7^^ . Any changes to waypoints or 

flight parameters within eMotionX are updated accordingly within GoogleEarth r" 

The interface with Google Earth r"^ is particu la rly useful to check the drone's trajectory with respect to obstacles in the area s . The flight plan is projected onto the 

ground in a darker colour, giving you an idea of the distance between the flight 

path and the ground. If you connect to a simulated drone you can simulate the 

entire flight and follow the drone within Google Earth T^^ . 

Note: To use this feature Google Earth'^^ has to be installed on the 

ground station PC, as described in section'Installing eMotionX, PostflightTerra 3D, and the ground modem drivers' on page 26. We recommend to use the latest version of the Google Earthr^^ software. 

Caution: A flight trajectory visualized in Google Earth r"^ represents 

the planned trajectory. The reaf flight trajectory can be different from 

the planned due to flight conditions such as strong wind. 

Caution: The terrain data within Google Earth'^r, including hills and 

buildings, may contain significant errors. When planning flights over 

uneven terrain be sureto keep sufficient distance between the flight 

plan and the terrain. 

While checking flight plans in Google Earth'M is a good safety practice, senseFly Ltd provides no 

guarantee regarding the accuracy and completeness of the Google Earrhn^t terrain model. 

FS! 
Advanced functionalities 

. Once it reaches the Home waypoint (if it has been i nstructed to return there) 

the drone will either: 

begin its landing procedure 

- hover at the Home waypoint until it receives a command. 

s After completing a landing procedure and detecting that it has successfully 

landed, the drone switches its motors off and enters idle mode. 

. Turning on the remote control will cause the drone to fly under manual 

control. Turning off the remote control will return control of the drone to 

eMotionX and its autopilot. 

. Clicking the'HOLD POSITION' button in the Control Bar at any time will 

cause the drone to hover until it receives a new command from the Control Bar. Alternatively, right-clicking in the Map Area and selecting'Hold 

here' will direct the drone towards that position and hover there. This will 

also happen automatically after certain In-flight warning or Critical failure 

conditions'. 

e Clicking the'LAND NOW'button in the Control Bar three times in quick succession cession will cause the drone to immediately initiate a landing procedure at 

its current location. 

' seesection'iroubleshooting'onpage92forafulllistofln-FlightwarningandCriticalfailureconditions and the subsequent reactions of the drone 

70 
eMotion X in-depth guide 

5 eMotion X in-depth guide 

Goal of this section: eMotion X is a powerful tool designed specifically to work with your senseFly drone. 

This section includes a comprehensive guide to all the functionalities in eMotion X 

to help you plan and monitor your next mapping flight. 

The main eMotion X interface is composed of a main panel, a Toolbar and a Sidebara . 

The main panel can be switched between Map mode and video mode: 

• Click t to switch to map mode. 

• Click -~- to switch to video mode. 

In map mode, the main area displays the current location of the eXom, a Status 

Panel with important information on the drone's current status, and a Control Bar 

used to send commands to the drone (section'Control Bar' on page 73). 

In video mode, the main area displays the eXom's video streams. 

The Toolbar above the main panel includes the Q File menu, controls for selecting the source of map data, display options and other controls (section'Toolbar' 

The Sidebar is separated into 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. 

5.7 Toolbar 

You can access the File menu by clicking on the Q button in the Toolbar. From 

this menu you can connect to or disconnect from a drone, access the Flight Data 

6 for an overview of the eMotion X interface see section'The eMotion X interface'on page 27 
Advanced functionalities 

Manager, change eMotionX preferences or import custom maps. 

Clicking the'~= icon will launch Google Earth T°^and display the current flight trajectories of drones connected to eMotionX, as described in detail in section'Flight 

visualization in Google EarthT^^' on page 68. 

You can select the backgrou nd map source from the drop-down list i n the Toolbar, 

and adjust its zoom level using the P and P buttons. eMotion X can use many 

sources of commercially available and custom mapping information. Tiles from 

map sources with the icon'+-. are downloaded by eMotion X from the Internet as 

required and locally cached on the hard drive. Due to regulatory restrictions, map 

sources with the icon & cannot be saved locally and are not recommended for 

use in the field. 

If you anticipate the use of eMotion X in cond itions where connecting to the internet is impossible, you can pre-load the map data by selecting'Download maps._' 

from the s File menu. Follow the instructions in the dialog box to select the 

zone of interest, map tile source and start downloading. 

eMotionX can also import and displaycustom layers which may include KML files, 

custom map tiles and elevation data. To import a KML file, select'Import KML..: 

from the Gi File menu and select your KML file. The resulting layer will now be 

available in the Toolbar by clicking on the ~ icon, and can be clicked to display 

or hide it. eMotion X can display lines, polygons, paths and points saved in KML 

format. 

Note: KMLfiles, including associated icons or images included within 

them, are not copied to the eMotion X directory and will no Ionger 

appear in eMotionX if the original KML files are deleted. 

Custom map tiles can also be added as a layer in eMotion X. These tile sets must 

be TMS-compatible sets of files. Select'Import custom map..' from the Q File 

menu and select the folder that contains the tile set. The tile set will then appear 

in the list of layers in the Toolbar, accessible by clicking the :—!: button. 

72 
eMotionX in-depth quide 

Note: If you use PostFlight Terra 3D (see section 'Processing image 

data' on page 62), you can generate TMS-compatible, eMotion Xcompatible tile sets for each project. In this way, you can create your 

own map background using the eXom. Generate the tile set by selecting'Generate Google Maps tiles and KML' from the'Process' menu 

within PostFlightTerra 3D. 

Whenever the eXom takes a picture, eMotion X records the location and orientation ofthe drone and computes the approximate span ofthe photo on the ground 

(or'footprint'). 

The Toolbar also contains buttons for centering the Map Area on the current position of the drone ('o!o button), on a searchable location or coordinate ('Y'button) 

or to continually follow the position ofthe drone while it is in flight ((& button). 

Finally you can view eMotionX in full-screen mode by clicking theO button 

5.2 Control Bar 

The Control Bar includes buttons for sending commands to the drone and for acknowledging warnings while it is in flight. Certain buttons can only be used during specific flight modes. 

The Command buttons allows the operator to directly control the drone while it 

is in flight. The various buttons are described in table 2 on the next page. 

73 
Advanced functionalitles 

Table 2: Control Bar Buttons 

6utton Availahle Action 

WARNING9 Active For yellow In-flight warnings, button 

warning text changes to 'ACK WARNING' and 

clicking will acknowledge the current 

warning. For red Critical failures, button 

text changes to'CRITICAL FAILURE'and 

cannot be clicked. 

START No active Fly towards the first active waypoint ln 

MISSION Security action the waypoint list and start the mission 

from the beginning. 

RESUME Not in Perform Return to the last position reached durMISSION Mission mode ing the mission and continue the flight 

plan. 

GOTO No active Fly towards the Start waypoint, hover 

START WPT Security action and wait for next command. 

GO TO Anytime Fly towards the Home waypoint, hover 

HOME WPT and wait for next command. 

GOLAND Anytime Flytowardsthe Homewaypointand initiate landing procedure. 

s seesectionTroubleshooting'onpage92forafulldescriptionofln-flightwarningsandCriticalfailures that may occur 

74 
eMotion X in-depth 

HOLD No active Create a waypoint at the current locaPOSITION Securityaction tion and altitude, hover at this point 

and wait for next command. 

LAND NOW Anytime Initiate a landing at the current locaClick 3x tion. Must be clicked 3 times in quick 

succession to be engaged. 

MOTORS Anytime Immediately stop all 4 motors. Mustbe 

OFF clicked 3 times in quick succession to 

Click 3x be engaged. 

ABORT During Land- Abort current landing procedure, reLANDING ing (if no turn to the altitude of the Home wayactive Critical point, hover atthe Home waypoint and 

failure) wait for next command. 

75 

Part I11 

a ` ~ 
Maintenance and 

6 Maintenance and repair of the eXom 

6.1 Attaching and detaching propellers 

Damaged propellers are unsafe, cause vibrations and must be replaced. 

Note: You do not need to replace all 4 propellers at once. You can 

replace one propeller at a time. 

m 
Maintenance and repair of the eXom 

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x 2 

~ x1 

79 
Maintenance and Repair 

, 2. 

3. 

911 
Maintenance and repair ofthe eXom 

6.1.1 How to detach a propeller 

1. Take the screwdriver provided and insert it into one of the sockets on the 

motor. 

2. While holding the screwdriver to prevent the motor from turning, turn to 

unlock the propeller and remove. 

Caution: Do not attempt to unscrew the screw. Only use the screwdriver to hold the motor still while installing the propeller. 

Caution: Never fly your eXom with a propel ler missing or incorrectly 

locked on. 

6.1.2 How to attach the propellers 

Note: The eXom's propellers come in pairs that rotate in opposite directions and have opposite pitch. You must install the correct propeller on the correct motor. A blade with a circular lock symbol on 

it must be installed on the propeller that is labelled with the same 

circular lock symbol. 

1. Take the screwdriver provided and insert it into one of the sockets on the 

motor. 

2. Position the correct propeller on the correct motor. Make sure that the labels match (circular or square lock symbol). 

3. While holding the screwdriver to prevent the propeller from turning, push 

and turn to lock the propeller onto the motor. The propeller should be 

aligned with the shrouding and the lock arrows should be lined up. 
Maintenance and 

Caution: Do not attempt to unscrew the screw. Only use the screwdriver to hold the motor still while installing the propeller. 

Caution: Never fly your eXom will a propeller missing or incorrectly 

locked on. 

FL~ 
Maintenance and reoair ofthe eXom 

6.2 Changing a leg 

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Sm 
Maintenance and 

2. tC 

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-m 
Maintenance and reoair of the eXom 

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First, completely remove the shrouding on the side the leg is on... 

1. TakethescrewdriversuppliedwithyoureXomandunscrewthe2shrouding 

screws at the top of the leg you want to change. 

2. Unscrew the 2 shrouding screws on the top of the other leg (on the same 

side of the eXom as the leg you want to change). 

3. Lift the shrouding mounting points a little so that they are free to move. 

4. While holding the leg in place, push the shrouding out of each of its clips. 

RE 
Maintenance and Repair 

A good way to do this is to hook the fingers of one hand over the leg then 

push the shrouding out of its clip with your thumb. 

Caution: Do not twist the legs. 

S. Put the shrouding to one side. 

Next, remove the leg... 

6. Unscrew the screw that's holding the leg you want to change in place and 

lift the leg off. 

Caution: Never try and unscrew the motor mounting screw that's 

undertheleg. 

Note: If undamaged, you can pull off and reuse the cap. 

Fit the new leg... 

7. Take the new leg and fit it into place. Screw the leg screw back in firmly. 

Finafly, replace the shrouding... 

8. Take the shrouding, pass it under the legs, then clip it back into the clips. 

A good way to do this is to hook the fingers of one hand over the leg then 

push the shrouding into its clip with your thumb. 

9. Slotthetopshroudingmountsbackintoplaceandfirmlyscrewall4screws 

backin. 

0 
Maintenance and repair of the eXom 

0 Caution: Never attempt to fly without the shrouding or legs. 

6.3 Changing a ground modem antenna 

1. Grip the serrated part at the base ofthe antenna and carefully unscrewthe 

old antenna. 

2. Ensure that the antenna threads are clean and undamaged. 

3. Screw the new antenna firmly on using finger force only. Take care not to 

cross the threads. 

You can obtain replacement antennas from senseFly or your reseller. 

6.4 Cleaning the eXom 

Use a damp cloth to wipe off dirt from the eXom's sensor modules, housing, motors, propellers and shrouding. 

Caution: Never bring the eXom into direct contact with water; this 

may damage its electronics. 

6.5 Storing the eXom 

Always clean the eXom before returning it to its case for storage. 

Whenever possible, store the eXom in the case it was supplied in. 

6.6 Full inspection 

The eXom is fully acceptance tested, adjusted and flown before being shipped. 

When you receive it, it is ready to fly. 

77 
Maintenance and 

Beyond the general airframe inspection that is performed before every fl ight, senseFly 

recommends that the operator regularly performs a full airframe and sensor inspection10 . 

Caution: The autopilot, sensors and actuators within the central 

body of the eXom are specially calibrated and should only be modified by your eXom reseller. Opening the central body of the eXom 

will void the warranty. 

6.6.1 Check your motors 

The eXom uses brushless DC motors to turn its propellers and generate thrust. AII 

4 motors must be clean and spin smoothly without friction to function correctly. 

To check the motors, follow these steps: 

1. Remove the battery from the eXom. 

2. Visually inspect the motors. 

3. Turn each propeller with your finger. Ensure that there is no sand or other 

obstruction preventing the motor from turning smoothly. Ifthe motor does 

not turn smoothly, blow some air through the motor to dislodge any obstruction. 

6.6.2 Check inertial sensors 

The inertial sensors are used by the autopilot to compute the attitude (i.e. its orientation in space) of the drone. The attitude is displayed bythe artificial horizon in 

the Flight Monitoring tab of eMotion X. To check the inertial sensors, follow these 

steps: 

1. Switch the eXom and connect to eMotion X. 

10 See se<tion'Maintenance schedule' on page 102 

9 
Maintenance and repair of the eXom 

2. Put the drone on a flat surface (typically an office floor) and check that the 

artificial horizon is level, 

3. Take the drone with your hand and put it indifferent orientation. Makesure 

that the artificial horizon displays the corresponding orientation. 

The artificial horizon shou Id follow smoothly the motion of the eXom and it should 

not drift when the drone is not moving. In case of doubt, take a short video 

and follow the instructions in section'Reporting a problem with your eXom' on 

page 102 for advice. 

6.6.3 Check 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 eXom and connect to eMo[ionX. 

2. Move the drone from your feet to above your head (about 2 m altitude variation). 

3. Check the altitude on the vertical barto the right of the artificial horizon or 

in the Status Panel next to the drone icon on the map). 

The displayed altitude should follow the drone motion, i.e. if the drone is raised 

by 2 m, the altitude reading should increase by about 2 m. 

6.7 Repairing the eXom airframe 

The eXom's advanced materials and construction mean that it has very few userserviceable parts. 

Only carry out the basic repairs described in this user manual. Do not try and 

disassemble the drone beyond the part replacement procedures described in this 

manual. Do not try and remove the top cover. 

m 
Maintenance and 

If your drone is damaged, contact senseFly or your eXom reseller. 

i Caution: Never fly a damaged eXom. 

6.8 Proper battery care 

Proper care ofyour eXom's battery is important to prevent damage to your drone 

and to maximize flight time. Batteries perform better at medium or high air temperature and it is normal to observe shorter flight times in cold weather. 

The charger delivered with your drone automatically checks for healthy voltages 

of all 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. 

Caution: The batteries delivered with your drone are deeigned to be 

charged with the charger del ivered with your eXom. senseFly Ltd cannot be held responsible for any consequences resulting from using a 

different charger. In particular, using a charger improperly configured or designed for other types of batteries may lead the battery 

pack to be permanently damaged or to catch fire. 

LiPo batteries do not exhibit any memory effect. We recommend that you always 

fully charge them after use even when they are only partially discharged. 

When not using the battery store it with 50 

Charge level is shown by the battery indicator on the battery. 

Dispose of the battery safely and appropriately. 

Caution: After flight, the battery will be warm. Allow it to cool down 

before charging. 

0 Caution: Always fly missions with a fully-charged battery. 

m 
Maintenance and renair of the eXom 

Caution: If the battery swells or if any of the cells are punctured the 

battery is damaged and should be discarded. Do not charge a damaged battery - it may catch fire. 

91 
Maintenance and 

7 Troubleshooting 

Goal of this section: This section describes the various error messages that may be displayed during start-up or while the eXom is in 

flight and provides some tips on solving the simplest problems. 

In the case of a more serious problem, this section describes how to 

prepare the required data on the problem and report it to your eXom 

reseller. 

The eXom can generate several types of error messages. some of these messages 

are minor and simply need to be acknowledged through eMotion X, whereas others require more specific action from the user. As long as the drone is connected 

to eMotionX, error messages will appear in the software. 

7.1 About the autopilots 

The eXom's autopilot is divided into 2 functional units-the low-level autopilot and 

the high-level autopilot. The low-level autopilot deals with direct control of the 

propellers and interpreting commands from the remote control. The high-level 

autopilot deals mainly with autonomous flight. 

92 
Trou 

7.2 In-flight warnings 

While it is in flight the eXom can generate two types of errors: warnings and failures. In-flight warnings occur when there is an event that requires an automatic 

response from the drone, or the user's attention a nd action, but does not com promise the drone's ability to continue flying. 

If an in-flight warning is raised while flying an autonomous mission, the drone 

will immediately abort the mission and head back to the Home waypoint (apart 

from loss of satellite positioning signals). The drone will fly in a straight line in 

the direction of the Home waypoint, climbing or descending to the waypoint's 

altitude. Always place your home waypoint so that, in case of in-flight warning, 

there are no obstacles between the drone and the Home waypoint to prevent a 

collision. 

Once it reaches the Home waypoint the drone will wait for a command until its 

battery is empty, and then initiate a landing when a'Failure: empty battery' Critical failure is triggered (as described in section'Critical (ailures' on page 96). 

Ifflying manually,warnings mustbe acknowledged by clicking onthe'ACK WARNING' button on eMotion X's Control Bar, after which, to avoid loss of your drone, 

collision or a crash, you must carry out the action recommended below. The full 

list of possible In-flight warnings and required User actions can be found in table 3 

on the following page. 

93 
Maintenance and 

Table 3: In-flight warnings 

eMotionXtezt pes<ription 

Useraction 

High-level The high-level autopilot's barometer has failed. 

barometer User Action: Land as soon as possible. 

failure 

Low-level IMU One of eXom's inertial measurement units has failed. 

failure User action: Land as soon as possible. 

Battery gauge The drone is unable to measure the remaining battery 

failure charge. There is a risk that the battery will run out during flight. 

User Action: Land as soon as possible. Recharge the 

drone battery before the next flight. 

Low battery The remaining battery level is too low to continue the 

flight pian. 

User Action: Land as soon as possible. Recharge the 

drone battery before the next flight. 

Battery hot The drone's battery is overheating. There is a riskthat it 

will fail or catch fire. 

User Action: Land as soon as possible. Remove the 

battery from the drone and place it in a fireproof bag 

or container to cool down. Do not charge or use the 

battery again. 

FI'f 
Troubleshooti 

Autopilot over- The drone's autopilot is overheating. There is a riskthat 

heating itwillfail. 

User Action: Land as soon as possi ble. Allow the drone 

to cool before the next flight. 

Outside work- The drone has Ieft the working area. This may occur 

ing area if waypoints are set close to or outside of the working 

area or due to strong wind. There is a risk of collision, 

loss or prosecution. 

User Action: Bring the drone back into the working 

area. 

Above working The drone has climbed above the working area ceiling. 

ceiling This may occur if waypoint altitudes are set close to or , 

outside the working area or due to strong wind. There ' 

is a risk of collision, loss or prosecution. '. 

User Action: Bring the drone back below the working 

ceiling. 

Telemetry link The eXom has not received any data from eMotion X for '. 

failure more than 30 s. This can be due to a large distance be- . 

tween drone and ground modem, a problem with the 

ground modem, antenna positioning or interference. 

Videofeedbackwillbelostandpilotingwillbecomedif- . 

ficult. 

User Action: Try to improve radio signal quality by following the instructions in section 'I m proving radio signal communication' on page 100. If this is impossible, 

land as soon as possible. 

95 
Maintenance and 

Strong wind There is too much wind to maintain stable flight. There 

is a risk the drone crashes, collides or exits the working 

area. If it cannot reach the Home waypoint, it lands immediately. 

User Action: Land as soon as possible. 

Poor GPS cover- Your eXom is unable to reliably calculate its position. 

age Unless flying manually, there is a riskof loss or collision. 

Manual flight is, however, unaffected. 

Response: Unless flying manually, the drone raises an 

alert, returns to the Home waypoint and immediately 

engages its landing sequence. 

Prevention: Only fly autonomously outside, in areas 

with good satellite positioning signal coverage. 

7.3 Critical gailures 

A critical failure is an error that occurs in flight that prevents the continuation of 

normal flight. This is the most serious type of error that can occur with the eXom. 

When a critical failure occurs flight is aborted and the drone initiates an Emergency action which immediately directs it to the ground. 

Table 4 on the following page describes the critical failures that may occur and 

what action is taken by the drone. In some cases it may be possible to manually 

control the drone using the remote controP'. If a critical failure occurs that results 

in an Emergency landing we recommend that you keep track of the drone's last 

known position in the air and in eMotionX if possible and follow the instructions 

in section'Losing and locating your eXom in the field' on page 101. 

" see section'Manual control of the eXom' on page 50 

09 
Table 4: Critical failures 

eMotionXtext Description ' 

Effect on droneldrone's response 

Prevention ; 

Userattion 

I 

High-level autopi- The eXom's high-level autopilot has failed. 

lotfailure Response: The drone raises an alert and immediately engages its landing sequence. 

Prevention: Only fly within the eXom's recom- ' 

mended operating conditions. 

User action: If automatic landing will be safe, allow I 

your drone to land. If not, land your drone manually. 

High-level IMU One of eXom's inertial measurement units has failed. 

failure Response: The drone raises an alert and immediately engages its landing sequence. 

User action: If automatic landing will be safe, allow 

your drone to land. If not, land your drone manually, 

High-level magne- One of your eXom's internal compasses has failed. 

tometer failure Response: The drone raises an alert and immediately engages its landing sequence. 

User action: If automatic landing will be safe, allow 

your drone to land. If not, land your drone manually. 

97 
Maintenance and R 

Low-levelbarome- One of your eXom's barometer units has failed. 

ter failure Response: An alert is raised and, unless under manual control, the drone flies in a straight line to the 

home waypoint. If under manual control, the drone 

carries out an immediate emergency landing. 

User action: If automatic landing will be safe, allow 

your drone to land. If not, land your drone immediately. 

Low-level magne- One of your eXom's internal compasses has failed. 

tometer failure Response: An alert is raised and, unless under manual control, the drone flies in a straight line to the 

home waypoint. If under manual control, the drone 

carries out an immediate emergency landing. 

User action: If automatic landing will be safe, allow 

your drone to land. If not, land your drone immediately. 

Batteryoverheat YoureXom'sbatterieshaveoverheated.Therelsarisk 

of battery failure or fire. 

Response: The drone immediately lands. 

Prevention: Inspect your batteries before each 

flight. Store them accordi ng to senseFly's recom mendations. Do not operate the drone outside the recommended temperature range. 

Battery critical Your eXom's batteries can no longer provide enough 

level energy to keep the drone airborne. 

Effect: The drone immediately lands. 

Prevention: Do not allow your drone's batteries to 

run out. 

m 
Lost RC signal in Your eXom lost contact with the remote control durmanual mode ing manualflight. 

Response (Autonomous flight): The drone flies in a 

straight line to the home waypoint. 

Response (Manual flight): The drone immediately 

lands. 

Prevention: Do not allow your drone to fly beyond 

the range of the remote control or allow an obstacle 

such as a building or terrain to block the RC signal. 

GPSfailure Your eXom's GPS has malfunctioned. The drone is unable to reliably calculate its position. Unless flying 

manually, there is a risk of loss or collision. Manual 

flight is, however, unaffected. 

Response: Unless flying manually, the drone raises 

an alert and immediately engages its landing sequence. 

Prevention: Only fly autonomously outside, where 

there is good satellite positioning signal coverage. 

Far outside work- While flying autonomously, your eXom has been 

ing area pushed well outside the working area. 

Response: Unless flying manually, the drone raises 

an alert and immediately engages its landing sequence. 

Prevention: Only fly your drone in suitable weather 

conditions. 

F}1 
Maintenance and Repair 

Abnormal sink Your eXom is descending at an unexpected rate or the 

rate and attitude drone pitch or roll angle is higher than 90 0 

Response: The eXom immediately stops its motors. 

Prevention: In manual modes, do not make the 

drone descend into its own downwash. 

User action: Prepare in whatever way possible for a 

falling drone. 

Motor controller The processor controlling your eXom's propellers has 

failure failed. 

Effect: The propellers stop. 

User action: Prepare in whatever way possible for a 

falling drone. 

Battery failure The battery is not providing enough power for Flight. 

Effect: The propellers stop. 

User action: Prepare in whatever way possible for a 

falling drone, 

7.4 Improving radio signal communication 

You may occasional ly lose the data connection between eMotion X and your eXom 

while in the field. Whether there is a loss in uplink or downlink communication, 

the drone will continue Flying along its Flight Plan and should re-establish the 

connection as it flies closer to the base station or changes direction. 

Data connection range can be effected by many external factors such as antenna 

height, terrain and obstacles or radio interference. We recommend the following 

tips to improve the range of your connection in the field: 

100 
Trou 

1. Place the USB ground modem as high as possible (for example, on top of a 

car, ladder or nearby building). A height of at least 2 m is recommended. 

2. Ensure that the USB ground modem's antennas are properly screwed on 

and are pointing straight up. 

The strength of the connection between the drone and eMotion X is indicated in 

the Flight Monitoring tab. 

7.5 Losing and locating your eXom in the field 

In case you lose your drone in the field for whatever reason, whether from a loss 

of communications, a Critical failure or an accidental collision, use the following 

steps to try to recover it: 

1. Do not disconnect the connection in eMotion X! If it is out of communication range, the drone should reconnect automatically as it comes back into 

range. 

2. Note the last known location of the drone in eMotion X by printing the 

screen or writing down the location displayed. 

3. Move towards this last known direction with the computer running eMotion X in the hope of regaining a connection. Be sure to take the remote 

control with you as well. 

4. Ifyou have reached the last known location ofyour drone and have notyet 

found it, turn on the remote control. 

S. Try moving both the control sticks around. If the drone is within range it 

may start making noise with its propellers. 

6. Try moving downwind from the last known location in case the drone was 

pushed by the wind while still in the air. 

101 
Maintenance and Repair 

7.6 Reporting a problem with your eXom 

If there is a problem with your eXom, whether it is a software malfunction, damaged airframe or any other problem, we recommend the following actions: 

1. If there is an error message displayed in eMotionX, begin by checking section'Troubleshooting' on page 92 to see if there is a solution to the particular message. 

2. CheckourKnowledgeBase,partofmy.senseFly",toseeifthereisasolution 

to your problem. 

3. If you have still not found a solution, contact your eXom reseller. Please 

include the following information with your inquiry: 

• The serial number of your drone. 

• A short description of the problem. 

• The Drone Flight Log file of the flight that had a problem. 

o The eMotion Flight Log file of the flight that had a problem. You can 

find this file in the eMotion/logs/ directory which is created in My 

Documents on Windows. 

e Photos or video of the eXom airframe, if required. 

Note: In order to provide support, senseFly may request the flight 

log files for inspection. 

7.7 Maintenance schedule 

You must carry out a general airframe inspection" before every flight. You must 

also perform a full airframeand sensorinspection14 at least once a month, orevery 

" http://my.sensefly.com 

" See section'Preparing the eXom for fllght' on page 33 

14 See section'Full inspection' on page 87 

102 
20 flight hours, whichever comes first. In addition, perform this full inspection 

when bringing your drone out of long-term storage (more than 1 month) after 

any repair, part replacement, heavy landing or other unexpected incident. 

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Part IV 

Specifications 
Software requirements 

eMotionX has thefollowing minimum software requirements: 

Operatingsystem MicrosoftWindows7/8 

Hardware 1.6 GHz processor 

4 GB RAM (8GB recommended) 

10 GB free storage space 

Screen recommended resolution: 1920 x 1080 

visible outdoors 

PostFlight Terra 3D has the following minimum software requirements: 

Operating system Microsoft Windows 7/ 8 

64-bit on(y 

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: 1024x768 
2 Drone specifications 

Nominal take-oPf weight (approx.) 

Weight without battery 

Maximum take-off weight 

Dimensians 

Max. airspeed (manual flight) 

Max. airspeed (autonomous Flight) 

Maximum climb speed 

Maximum pitch/roll angle 

Possible manoeuvres 

Nominal endurance (flight time)" 

Material 

Battery 

Battery weight 

Optimum charge time 

Main camera-stills 

Main camera FOV 

Main camera - video 

Thermal camera images 

Thermal camera FOV 

Thermal camera temp. resolution 

1.7 kg (3.7 Ib) 

1.1 kg (2.41b) 

1.9 kg (4.2 Ib) 

799 x 561 x 172 mm (31.5 x 22.1 x 6.8 in) 

12 m/s (43 km/h, 27 mph) 

8 m/s (29 km/h,18 mph) 

7 m/s (23 ft/s) 

60° 

Climb, descend, hover, pitch, roll, yaw 

22 min 

Carbon structure & composite parts 

3-cell 8500 mAh 

0.57 kg (1.3 Ib) 

1.5 hours 

38 Mp 

63° 

HD (1280 x 720 pixels) 

Stills and video geo-referenced 

80 x 60 pixels 

50° 

0.1 ° C (0.2° F) 

can vary greatly depending on external factors such as wind, altitude change and temperature. 
Navcam resolution 640 x 480 pixels 

Navcam FOV 120° 

Ultrasonic sensor range 

Ultrasonic sensor FOV 

Propulsion 

Max. wind (manual Flight) 

Max. wind (autonomous flight) 

Operating temperature 

6 m (20 ft) 

50° 

4 x electric brushless motors 

10 m/s (36 km/h, 22 mph, 19 kts) 

8 m/s (29 km/h, 18 mph, 16 kts) 

-10 to 40° C 

Communication devices 

Grc und modem 

Range 16 Up to 2 km (1.2 miles) 

Frequency 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz ISM bands 

Streams MiMo 2x2 with Spatial Diversity 

Transmision Mode OFDM" or DSSS' a 

Radiated Power Up to 630 m W 19 

Antennas Dual Omnidirectional 

Security WPA Encryption 

10 can vary greatly depending on external factors such as cruise altitude, presence of obstades and 

radio-frequencyinterference. 

° Orthogonal Frequency Division Modulation 

' aDirect Sequence Spread Spectrum 

19 automati<ally configured based on frequency and legal limits of the country 
Remote control 

Frequency 2.4 GHz 

Range Up to 0.8 km (0.5 miles) 

Carry case dimensions 92 x 64 x 22 cm (36 x 25 x 9 in)