eBee by SenseFly

Description

SenseFly- A Parrot Comapny

In 2009, SenseFly was founded. It is a subsidiary of Parrot Group. Parrot group works in the area of wireless technology or consumers and professionals. They innovate and develop products in area of civil drones, automotive communication and information systems and others. SenseFly provides a wide range of drones such as eBee, eBee Plus, eBee SQ and albris.

Source: www.sensefly.com

They provide various solutions such as Survey 360, mine and quarry 360, Ag 360 and Inspection 360. These drones and solution such as Ag 360 have a huge impact in precision farming and aid in development of farms and in maintaining crops and nutrients value of soil.

About eBee

The eBee drones are capable to cover a range of up to 12km2 in one automated flight and a flight time of up to 50 minutes. Prior flying skills are not mandatory. Thus, this makes it one of the easiest professional drones to use. An eBee drone is loaded with a high resolution RGB camera, batteries, radio modem and eMotion- a flight planning and control software. Weighing at just 700 grams, eBee comes packed in a carry on, sturdy case for easy transportation. eBee is powered by a low noise brush less electric motor which runs on a rechargeable lithium-polymer battery.

Cameras on board eBee

An on board SONY 18.2 MP RGB camera acquires regular image in the visible spectrum. Apart from this standard option, senseFly S.O.D.A. is the first camera designed especially for professional drones. It has 20 MP resolutions and 2.33 μm pixel pitch for a sharp, detailed and vivid photography. Further, there are application specific cameras available such as thermoMAP, S110 NIR/S110 RE and Sequoia. ThermoMAP is a thermal infrared camera which allows user to create thermal maps and has an built in shutter for in flight radiometric calibration. S110 NIR/ S110 RE are customized 12 MP camera models developed for easy control during drone’s autopilot. They acquire near infrared and red edge bands respectively. Lastly, Sequoia by parrot is the lightest and smallest multi spectral sensor ever released. It captures images in visible and non- visible bands as well as RGB imagery, in just single flight.

Flying eBee

Flying eBee is very easy owing to its smart and hassles free eMotion software. Three simple steps are as follows:

Create a flight plan
Without the need of a catapult, launch it from your hand
Acquires image and lands itself within the optimal range

To begin with, create a background map in the eMotion software is created. and use it to define the region which needs to be captured. Secondly, set the ground resolution and required image overlap. Lastly, eMotion automatically generates a full flight plan based on GPS waypoints and calculates the necessary altitude and trajectory for eBee. EMotion also provides a virtual simulation to obtain an idea about the flight plan and do any necessary changes. Shaking the drone for three times switches the motor on. Key flight parameters such as: battery level, progress in image acquisition, flight path and GPS data for automatic control during the Autopilot function. Moreover, the autopilot feature also manages failsafe functionality and improves safety during the flight. The 3D planning feature of eMotion software uses real world elevation data while setting the flight path so that, it can obtain a better ground resolution and highest level of drone safety. Also, it allows changes in flight plan and landing zone during the flight. These safety features boost its use among farmers as they feel assured about secure about their crops on grounds and damage due to improper flight.

Future

SenseFly and its range of eBee drones have evolved as a successful company in area of drone technology and solutions. The Ag360 software program is fully compatible with precision farming equipment and FMIS (Farm Management information systems). The proven technology at SenseFly helps farmers to boost their agriculture yield using eBee drones. Additional services like: