User Manual

eBee and eBee Ag

Revision 13 / November 2014

Copyright © 2010-2014 senseFly Ltd
GENERAL INFORMATION

READ THIS USER MANUAL CAREFULLY BEFORE USING A SENSEFLY LTD PRODUCT.

senseFly Ltd products are intended for professional use only.

Applicable Regulations

senseFly Ltd products are subject to Civil Aviation regulations. Regulations may vary depending on the country

where you intend to operate your product.

ANY USE OF SENSEFLY LTD PRODUCTS IN BREACH OF THE LAW OF THE COUNTRY WHERE YOU OPERATE THE PRODUCT

IS UNDER YOUR SOLE RESPONSIBILITY.

INFORM YOURSELF BEFORE USING THE PRODUCT. SOME COUNTRIES MAY HAVE LAWS THAT LIMIT THE USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT TO ‘LINE-OF-SIGHT’ OPERATIONS AND/OR PROHIBIT THE USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT AT ALL

OR IN SPECIFIC AREAS.

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 not circulate degrading images or

ones that could undermine the reputation or dignity of an individual. Check that your use of the cameras on board

senseFly Ltd products comply with the legal provision on privacy in the country where you operate your product.

Limited Warranty

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

(12) months from the date of delivery. SenseFly Ltd further warrants that the product will perform substantially in

accordance with its specification. During the warranty period senseFly Ltd’s sole liability shall be at senseFly Ltd’s

sole option, either to repair or to replace the defective product with another product or a product with similar specifications, at no charge, or to reimburse the purchase price of the product, or if repair or replacement is not possible,

issue a credit note; provided however, that the defect has been confirmed by senseFly Ltd and that the defective

product is returned to senseFly Ltd in accordance with the support and repair form together with all required flight

logfiles.

Warranty does not apply, without limitation, in case: a) the products are not stored and used according to their

specifications, b) the products are damaged due to carelessness, negligence, or wrong use by the user, and c) for

defects due to normal wear and tear including, but not limited to, deterioration to the airframe after first flight,

normal degradation, misuse, moisture or liquids, proximity or exposure to heat, accidents, excessive strain, abuse,

neglect, misapplication, repairs or modifications made by third party other than senseFly Ltd, damage due to manual

operation, damage due to take-off or landing location with obstacles, damage due to low altitude flight, damage due

to loss of data radio connection, damage due to strong wind, rain or humidity, or other causes for which senseFly Ltd

has no control.
THE FOREGOING WARRANTIES ARE IN LIEU OF ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND OF

ANY OTHER OBLIGATION ON THE PART OF SENSEFLY LTD.

Limitation of liability

TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL SENSEFLY LTD BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF REVENUE, LOSS OF PROFIT, LOSS OF DATA, OR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF

SENSEFLY LTD HAS BEEN NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, AND WHETHER THIS LIABILITY ARISES

FROM A CLAIM BASED ON CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT OR OTHERWISE, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF GROSS NEGLIGENCE AND DEATH.

YOU SHALL AT ALL TIMES OPERATE THE PRODUCT IN AREAS OR UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES SO AS TO GUARANTY SECURITY AND SAFETY OF PEOPLE, PROPERTY AND ANIMALS.

FCC and iC Compliance statement :

This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules and Industry Canada License-exempt RSS standard(s).

Operation is subject to the following two conditions:

1. This device may not cause harmful interference, and

2. This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void

the user’s authority to operate the equipment.

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a class B digital device, pursuant to part

15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide a reasonable protection against harmful interference in a

residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed

and uses in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However,

there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful

interference to radio or television reception, wich can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user

is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

1. Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna

2. Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver

3. Connect the equipment into a an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected

4. Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
This Class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003.

This equipment complies with FCC’s radiation exposure limits set forth for an uncontrolled environment under the

following conditions:

1. This equipment should be installed and operated such that a minimum separation distance of 20cm is

maintained between the radiator (antenna) and user’s/nearby person’s body at all times.

2. This transmitter must not be co-located or operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter.

Disposal of this product at the end of its life

At the end of this product’s life, please do not dispose of this product in your general household waste.

Instead, in order to prevent possible harm to the environment or human health from uncontrolled waste

disposal, please dispose of this product separately in accordance with your local laws and regulation. For

more information on the separate collection systems for waste electrical and electronic equipment that

are available for consumers, near your home, free of charge, please contact your local municipal authority.

You can also contact senseFly Ltd or the reseller from which you purchased your drone who may provide recycling

services or be part of a recycling scheme.

Copyrights

senseFly Ltd reserves the right to make changes to specifications and product descriptions contained in this document at any time without notice. Please consult www.sensefly.com for the latest release.

Copyright © 2014 senseFly Ltd. All rights reserved. REPRODUCTION, USE OR DISCLOSURE OF ALL OR IN PART OF THIS

MANUAL TO THIRD PARTIES WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION OF SENSEFLY LTD IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
Address

senseFly Ltd

Route de Gen`eve 38

1033 Cheseaux-Lausanne

Switzerland

Website: http://www.sensefly.com

Technical support

If you have questions about any of your senseFly products:

• Try our Knowledge Base. You can find it within my.senseFly (http://my.sensefly.com).

• Send an email to support@sensefly.com.

Welcome to your eBee

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

best possible hardware and software tools for quick, high-quality and easy-to-use

2D and 3D aerial mapping.

Note: This manual refers to the version 2.4 of eMotion and version 3.2

of Postflight Terra 3D software. Check the software version included

in your package and consult the Release Notes for potential changes

included in more recent versions of the software.

The standard eBee package contains the following items:

• 1x carrying case with foam protection

• 1x eBee central body with built-in autopilot

• 1x pair of detachable wings

• 1x spare propeller

• 10x spare propeller attachment rubber bands

• 2x Lithium-Polymer battery packs

• 1x Lithium-Polymer battery charger (including cables)

• 1x 2.4GHz USB ground modem (FCC ID: 2AC2VGMEBEE) for radio data link (including USB cable)

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

• 1x still camera (including memory card, battery and charger)

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

• 1x EPP glue

• 1x eBee User Manual

• 1x camera User Manual

Depending on your order, your package may also include other items, such as

additional payloads. Please verify upon delivery that your package is complete.

In case of a missing item, please contact your eBee reseller immediately.

Note: Camera user manuals are also available to download from our

Knowledge Base, part of my.senseFly.

http://my.sensefly.com
Hardware features

Top face of the eBee

battery compartment

aileron

winglet

propeller

rvo connection

mechanism

data link antenna

tot probe, status LED

wing

ra compartment

central body

Bottom face of 

the central body

ground

sensor

camera lens hole

Detachable

wing

wing

struts

se

pi

came

The eBee is an autonomous flying drone comprised of the following components:

• Central body: This is the core of the eBee and includes all the electronics,

actuators and communications hardware on-board the drone.

• Wing: The two wings of the eBee are detachable for storage and replacement. Each wing has two wing struts and two clips to hold it in place within

the central body.
• Winglets: These structures add aerodynamic stability to the drone while it

is in flight.

• Ailerons: Used to control the eBee while in flight.

• Servo connection mechanism: The ailerons are connected to the servomotors within the central body of the drone through this connection mechanism.

• Propeller: Used to generate thrust while it is in flight.

Caution: When attached to the motor the propeller spins at high

speeds and can be potentially dangerous if it comes into contact with

exposed skin. Be sure to always keep your hands clear of the propeller

when the battery is attached to the eBee.

• Battery compartment: The eBee is powered by a LiPo (Lithium Polymer)

battery stored within the battery compartment.

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

Extended User Manual before using your drone for the first time.

• Camera compartment: The eBee features a built-in camerafor taking aerial

images stored within the camera compartment.

• Data Link Antenna: Used by the drone to communicate with the eMotion

software through the USB ground modem.

• Pitot probe: This is the sensor used by the eBee to detect airspeed, wind

and altitude. It must be kept clean and clear of obstructions to function

properly.

• Status LED: This coloured LED displays the current state of the eBee. It is

housed underneath the pitot probe and thus illuminates the entire transparent probe in various colours depending on the drone’s state.
• Ground sensor: The ground sensor, composed of a high-speed optical

sensor and lens assembly, is used to detect the proximity of the ground.
Software features

The eBee package allows you to download and use eMotion∗and

Postflight Terra 3D ∗† at no extra cost.

eMotion is the integrated software package that allows you to interact with your

eBee. Its easy-to-use interface allows you to plan a mapping flight intuitively from

the comfort of your office or directly in the field. Once the drone is launched, you

can use eMotion’s wireless connection with your eBee to track its position, monitor

the progress of your mapping flight and send commands if desired.

Once your eBee returns after an aerial mapping flight it is the turn of Postflight

Terra 3D to process the captured images fully automatically. Postflight Terra 3D is

a full-featured mapping solution: with just a few mouse clicks it can create highquality geo-referenced 2D and 3D orthomosaics and digital elevation/surface models (DEM/DSM). While you are still in the field Postflight Terra 3D analyses the quality of the captured images and generates an easy to understand report, letting you

know immediately if the data you captured meets your mapping requirements.

∗ Software access terms and conditions apply

† Postflight Terra 3D works with eBee images only

Contents

I Quick start guide 17

1 Planning and simulating a flight 19

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

drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

1.2 The eMotion interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

1.3 Creating a new flight plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

1.4 The mission phase of a flight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

1.5 Simulating your flight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

1.6 Getting ready for a mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

2 Executing a flight 28

2.1 Weather check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

2.2 Preparing the eBee for flight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

2.3 The setup phase of a flight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

2.4 Take-off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

2.5 In-flight monitoring and control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

2.6 Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

2.7 Potential in-flight errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

3 Processing image data 49

3.1 Importing images and flight data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

3.2 In-field image quality check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

3.3 Creating advanced mapping products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
II Specifications 55

1 Software requirements 56

2 Drone specifications 57
Part I

Quick start guide

The first part of this document introduces you to the eBee and contains the basic

information you will need to plan and execute a simple mapping project. A typical

mapping project can be divided into three main phases:

1. Planning and simulating a flight: 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 and simulating a flight’ on page 19 describes how to use the Mission Planning feature to quickly generate a flight

plan and to test it using the built-in simulator.

2. Executing a flight: Once planning is complete, it is time for the drone to

perform its flight. In section ‘Executing a flight’ on page 28 you will learn

how to prepare your drone for flight, connect it to eMotion, and to monitor

it in flight while it gathers images. Though the eBee can complete a flight

fully autonomously from take-off to landing, you can also modify its flight

plan at any point during flight.

3. Processing image data: The last step in a project is converting the images

taken by your eBee into usable products such as precise geo-referenced orthomosaics or 3D terrain models. section ‘Processing image data’ on page 49

leads you through the process of transferring images from the drone to a

computer, checking if the image quality suits your needs while still in the

field and producing advanced 2D and 3D maps.
Quick start guide

Note: eMotion contains many advanced features, including 3D flight

planning, multi-drone mapping, oblique imagery and many more.

All advanced features are described in the eBee Extended User Manual that can be found directly within the File menu in eMotion. You can also find technical FAQs in our Knowledge Base, part

of my.senseFly1.

18
Planning and simulating a flight

1 Planning and simulating a flight

Goal of this section: This section introduces the eMotion software

used to interface with the eBee. It describes the steps required to

plan, simulate, and save a simple mapping flight. A more detailed

description of eMotion and its advanced functions is presented in the

eBee Extended User Manual.

1.1 InstallingeMotion, PostflightTerra 3D, and the groundmodem drivers

You can download the latest version of eMotion and Postflight Terra 3D at:

http://my.sensefly.com

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

address:

www.google.com/earth/

To install eMotion on Windows, simply execute the provided installers for eMotion

and Postflight Terra 3D and follow the on-screen instructions. The eMotion and

Postflight Terra 3Dsoftwarewill be available in the ‘Start’ menu. Driversfor the USB

ground station ground modem will automatically be installed along with eMotion.

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:\Program Files\senseFly\eMotion 2\usb driver\

C:\Program Files (x86)\senseFly\eMotion 2\usb driver\

See the eBee Extended User Manual if you have any difficulty with software installation.

19
Quick start guide

1.2 The eMotion interface

Thanks to the powerful tools available within eMotion, designing a mapping flight

for your eBee is a simple process. To get started, launch eMotion and choose what

you would like to do...

• To run a simulation, select the simulator, choose the drone you want to

simulate and click OK.

• To fly a drone, connect your ground modem to your computer and select

Drone. If you have more than one USB device connected to your PC , choose

the ground modem you want to connect to from the list and click OK. Otherwise, just click OK.

• To process flight data you already created, select the Flight Data Manager

and click OK.

We recommend that you plan flights using a simulated drone. Once connected to

a real or simulated drone you will see the main screen of eMotion.

The main screen of eMotion is split into four sections:

• Map Area: The Map Area of eMotion displays a map with the drone’s current position, indicated by the symbol. A small Status Panel floats beside the symbol, indicating important status information including the eBee’s

20