senseFly eBee X User Manual

eBee X Drone User Manual

Revision 1.7 / October 2019

© 2019 senseFly

GENERAL INFORMATION

READ ALL USER MANUALS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING A SENSEFLY PRODUCT.

USER MANUALS ARE AVAILABLE ON MY.SENSEFLY WEBSITE.

senseFly products (the “Product(s)”) are intended for professional use only.

Always comply with Civil Aviation regulations and other applicable laws, act responsibly and follow the in­structions in your senseFly User Manuals.

Civil aviation regulations

senseFly products (“Product(s)”) are subject to Civil Aviation regulations. Regulations may vary depending on the
country where you intend to operate your Product.

ALL USE OF THE PRODUCT INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE USE CONFORM TO THE APPLICABLE LAW OF THE
COUNTRY IN WHICH THE PRODUCT IS OPERATED, IS UNDER THE CLIENT’S SOLE RESPONSIBILITY.

THE CLIENT SHOULDINFORM HIMSELF BEFORE USING THE PRODUCT. SOME COUNTRIESMAY HAVELAWS THATLIMIT
THE USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFTS TO “LINE-OF-SIGHT” OPERATIONS AND/OR PROHIBIT THE USE OF UNMANNED
AIRCRAFTS IN SOME SPECIFIC AREAS.

Other laws and regulations - privacy

Recording and circulating an imageof an individual, a building or a creative work may constitute an infringement of
the image rights, privacy or of intellectual property rights including copyrights of the author/owner for which you
can be liable. Ask for authorisation before taking pictures of an individual, a building or creative work protected
by intellectual property rights, particularly if you want to keep your recording 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. Do not use your Product for espionage purposes. Always comply, when using your Product and
cameras on board, with applicable laws and regulationsincluding but not limited to, laws andregulations on privacy,
intellectual property rights and national security in the country where you operate your Product.

Compliance with Export Control Regulations

Products may be subject to export control regulations. In which case:

• The Product must not be used to design, develop, manufacture or use any military equipment or any nu­clear, chemical or biological weapons, nor missiles classified under the U.S. Munitions List, the Common
Military List of the European Union and the Wassenaar Arrangement Munitions List.

• The Product must not be exported, re-exported, sold or transferred, either directly or indirectly, to any mil­itary end-user (defined as a national armed organisation) or to anyone else if the Client is aware that the
Product will be subsequently exported or transferred to a military end-user.

• The Client must comply with the dual use regulations if such regulations apply.

• The Client must declare that he/she is not a “Person subject to Sanctions” and must not export, re-export,
sell or transfer the Product, either directly or indirectly, to any “Persons subject to Sanctions”. A “Person
subject to Sanctions” means a person, a company or entity appearing on the list of specially designated
persons established by the Security Council of the United Nations, the United States of America and the
European Union.

• The Product must not be exported, re-exported, sold or transferred, either directly or indirectly to any
“Country subject to Sanctions”. A “Country subject to Sanctions” means a country subjected to interna­tional economic sanctions adopted and applied by the Security Council of the United Nations, the United
States of America and the European Union.

Limited warranty

The Supplier warrantsthat the delivered items will befree from defects in workmanship andmaterials for a period of
twelve (12) monthsfrom the date that the item was first purchasedbythe client. During theWarranty Period, should
the covered Product, in the Supplier’s sole opinion, malfunction due to any defect in material and/or workmanship,
the Client’s sole remedy and the Supplier ’s sole liability shall be, at Supplier’s option, to either repair or replace the
malfunctioning Product with a similar product at no charge, or if repair or replacement is not possible, issue a credit
note; provided thatthemalfunc tioningProduct is returned in accordancewith the support and repair form together
with all required flight logfiles, with proof of purchase in the form of the Client’s original copy of the sales receipt,
within the applicable Warranty Period.

Warranty does not apply, without limitation, in case: a) the delivered items are not stored, maintained or used ac­cording totheir specifications, b) the delivereditems are damaged dueto carelessness, misuse, negligence,or wrong
use by the user, c)of defects due to normal wear and tear including, but not limited to, normaldegradation,misuse,
moisture or liquids, dust, proximity or exposure to heat, contact with chemical agents, salt water, or other corro­sive agents, accidents, excessive strain, abuse, neglect, misapplication, repairs or modifications made by third party
other than senseFly, damage due to pilot error (associated, for example, with the use of manual, assisted or interac­tive flight modes), damage due to take-off or landing location with obstacles, damage due to low altitude or close
object flight, damage due to loss of data radio connection, damage due to strong wind, rain, water, humidity, cor­rosion, condensation, salt or other causes for which senseFly isnot answerable and d) failure to properly update the
flight control software and firmware. Any claim related to in-flight malfunction of the Product will be considered by
senseFly only if accompanied with all related flight logfiles. Battery cells are excluded from warranty after first use.

The warranty shall be subject tothe condition that the Client submits the Product, every 100hours of Product flight,
to the Supplier or to a Supplier-Authorised Ser vice Centre for a service in accordance with maintenance schedules
and ser vice instructions available at Client’s account on https://my.sensefly.com. A ser vice may be performed in
advance provided however that the next service is performed within the above mentioned time interval. It is the
Client’s own responsibility to monitor the number and duration of flights and decide when the maintenance check
must be performed.

Any cost in relationwith scheduled maintenance and service instructions, other than the return shipping costs, shall
be borne by the Client only. The Product is always shipped at Client’s sole risk, even in case of free delivery. The
Supplier is responsible for loss or damage to the Product only when the Product is in the Supplier’s premises.

The Client shall make available to the Supplier, at the Supplier’s request, all data regarding the Product’s flight and
maintenance parameters. The Client further agrees and acknowledges that the Supplier is entitled, at any time, to
access, analyse and use all data available on the Client’s Account regarding the flight and maintenance parameters.
If such data are not available for a reason over which the Supplier has no control or responsibility, including but not
limited to an external service provider issue, network fault or power failure, the Supplier is under no obligation to
provide the Limited Warranty coverage until such data is made available.

It is the Client’sresponsibility to check that the Product’sairworthiness and level ofmaintenance are compliant with
applicable requirements underlocal laws and regulations. Additional maintenancemay be required by international
or governmental authorities and the Client should makeanyand all necessary checks before operating the Product.

There areno express or impliedwarranties, representations or conditionsother than those statedin this Limited War­ranty. This Limited Warranty is made in lieuofall other warranties, representations orconditions, whether expressed
or implied, including without limitation, merchantability or fitness for a specific purpose.

The remedy set forth herein shall be the sole, exclusive remedy with respect to the Product.

Limitation of liability

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL THE SUPPLIER BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (EVEN IF THE SUPPLIER IS NOTIFIED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES) INCLUD­ING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY CRASH OR DAMAGES CAUSED BY THE CLIENT OR A THIRD PARTY WHILE OPERAT­ING OR USING THE PRODUCT(S) (INCLUDING SIMULTANEOUS FLIGHTS OF PRODUCTS USING A SINGLE INSTANCE OF
THE SOFTWARE) AND ANY DAMAGES CAUSED BY FAILURE OF THE AUTOPILOT, ELECTRONICS OR SOFTWARE (EVEN IF
CAUSED BY A MALFUNCTION OF THE PRODUC T, AUTOPILOT, ELECTRONICS OR SOFTWARE), ANY LOSS OF REVENUE,
LOSS OF PROFIT, OR LOSS OFDATA WHETHER BASEDUPON ANY ALLEGED BREACH OF WARRANTY, REPRESENTATION
OR CONDITION, CONTRACT, OR ANY OTHER CONDUCT INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE (INTENTIONALOR OTHERWISE), GIV­ING RISE TO SUCH CLAIM. THE CLIENT SHALL NOT OPERATE THE PRODUCT(S) IN AREAS OR UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES
WHERE A FAILURE COULD CAUSE DAMAGES OR/AND HARM TO PEOPLE, PROPERTY OR/AND ANIMALS.

Intellectual property rights

senseFly Products andsoftware are protected by intellectual property rights. senseFly is the proprietorand legal and
beneficial owner and/or theauthorized licensee of any intellectual property rights withinthe Products, and senseFly
is entitled to the benefit of all applications made for the grant of senseFly Intellectual Property Rights.

senseFly, eBee, albris and related logos are registered trademarks of senseFly. You may not use or register, in whole
or in part, registered trademarks without express authorization from their respective owners.

FCC and iC compliance statements

This device complieswith part 15 of the FCC Rulesand 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 interferencethat 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 isno guarantee that interferencewill not occur ina particular installation. If this equipmentdoescause harmful
interference to radioor television reception, which canbe determined by turning theequipmentoff 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 20 cm is
maintained between the radiator (antenna) and user’s/nearby person’s body at all times.

2. This transmitter must not beco-locatedoroperatingin conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter.

Declaration of conformity

senseFly SA, Route de Genève 38, 1033 Cheseaux-Lausanne, Switzerland,
declares under its sole responsibility that the product described in this user guide conforms with

60950-1:2006/A11:2009/A1:2010/A12:2011/A2:2013 in accordance with the provisions of the RED Directive
2014/53/UE and the RoHS Directive 2011/65/UE.

technical standards EN300328, EN303413, EN301489-1, EN301489-17, EN301489-19, EN62321, EN

Anatel Brazil

06072-19-05976

Para maiores informações, consulte o site da ANATEL www.anatel.gov.br.

Este equipamento não tem direito à proteção contra interferência prejudicial e não pode causar interferência em
sistemas devidamente autorizados.

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 or the reseller from which you purchased your drone who may provide recycling ser­vices or be part of a recycling scheme.

Hazard warnings

VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE CLASS 1M

LASER RADIATION WHEN OPEN

DO NOT VIEW DIRECTLY

WITH OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS

CAUTION

Take care with sharp edges

Do not misuse batteries: risk of fire

Keep clear of rotating blades

Beware of objects above you

Copyrights

senseFly reserves the right to make changes to the terms, specifications and product descriptions contained in this
document at any time without notice. Please consult the my.senseFly website for the latest release.

Copyright © 2019 senseFly. All rights reserved. REPRODUC TION, USE OR DISCLOSURE OF ALL OR IN PART OF THIS
DOCUMENT TO THIRD PARTIES WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION OF SENSEFLY IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

Acknowledgements

Pages 46, 47 and 55: Icons made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com are licensed under CC 3.0 BY.

Address

senseFly SA

Route de Genève 38
1033 Cheseaux-Lausanne
Switzerland

Website: http://www.sensefly.com

Technical support

senseFly and ourresellers are dedicated toproviding you with full professional product support. To submita support
ticket and/or view your outstanding tickets, please use our customer portal, my.senseFly (http://my.senseFly.com).
Log in with the same account details you used to download your drone’s software (see the separate software infor­mation document in your eBee X’s case).

In addition to support access, my.senseFly includes:

• Details of all your senseFly drones, including their serial numbers.

• The Knowledge Base – packed full of helpful articles, tips, tutorials and webinars.

• Download links for the latest versions of our software.

Welcome to your eBee X

Congratulationsonyour purchase ofthe eBeeX, alarge-coveragephotogrammet­ric mapping system for survey-grade accuracy on demand.

The eBee X includes built-in RTK/PPK functionality that can be activated either
out of the box or later when required, providing you with survey-grade accuracy,
without the need for ground control points.

The eBee X is compatible with multiple professional-grade cameras, all of which
areoptimisedforprofessionaldronephotogrammetry. WitheBeeX, captureamaz­ingly sharp aerial photos across a range of light conditions and produce detailed,
vivid orthomosaics and highly precise digital surface models.

Wetakegreatcaretodevelopanddesignthe bestpossiblehardwareandsoftware
tools for quick, high-quality and easy-to-use 2D and 3D aerial mapping.

1 About this user manual

A complete guide to your senseFly eBee X comprises:

• The eMotion software user manual
An in-depth guide to mission planning and monitoring with eMotion soft­ware.

• This drone user manual
A guideto yourdronehardware,completingandcomplementingtheeMotion
user manual.

• A camera user manual
A guide to using your drone’s camera.

With these, you have a complete guide to using the eBee X. You’ll find all the user
manuals you need within eMotion’s Help function tab. All senseFly user manuals
are also available in my.sensefly∗.

Note: You can always find the latest version of eMotion in
my.senseFly∗. The eBee X requires eMotion version 3.7 or later to op­erate.

∗

http://my.sensefly.com

Units used in this user manual

In general, dimensions are given in the appropriate SI units with, when relevant,
the Imperial unit in brackets, for example, 30 m (98 ft).

Dimension Units used

Distance km (mi) kilometres (miles)
Length m (ft) metres (feet)
Length cm (in) centimetres (inches)
Length
Speed m/s (kts) metres per second (nautical miles per hour)
Climb rate m/s (ft/min) metres per second (feet per minute)
Mass kg (lbs) kilograms (pounds)
Mass g (oz) grams (ounces)
Temperature °C (°F) degrees Celsius (degrees Fahrenheit)
Frequency Hz
Area m2(sq ft) square metres (square feet)
Area km2(sq mi) square kilometres (square miles)
Area ha (ac) hectares (acres)
Heading ° degrees from true north
Angle ° degrees
Thrust

The Imperial unit used for speed is knot (kts).

mm (in)

kgf (N, lbf) kilogram-force (newton, pound-force)

millimetres (inches)

hertz

1 kts = 1 nm/h (nautical mile per hour)

All headings are given in reference to true north (geodetic north), not magnetic
north.

2 Package contents

The standard eBee X package contains the following items:

• 1x carrying case with foam protection

• 1x eBee X central body with built-in autopilot

• 1x pair of detachable wings

• 2x spare propellers

• 10x spare propeller attachment rubber bands

• 2x Lithium-Polymer batteries

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

• 1x USB ground modem

• 1x USBcableforconnecting yourcomputertothe drone andsome cameras

• 1x tube of EPP glue

Depending on your order, your camera may be sold separately and yourpackage
may include other items, such as additional cameras. Please verify upon delivery
that your package is complete. In case of a missing item, please contact senseFly
or your eBee X reseller immediately.

Note: Drone, camera and charger user manuals are also available to
download from our Knowledge Base, part of my.senseFly∗.

∗

http://my.sensefly.com

3 Hardware features

13

10

3
4

1

5

20

19

15

16

7

8

18

9

11

2

6

12

14

17

1. Wing release: Press to detach the wing.

2. Status LED/Pitot probe: The pitot probe is the sensor used by the eBee X
to calculate airspeed, wind and altitude. It must be kept clean and clear
of obstructions to function properly. A coloured LED, housed underneath,
lights up the entire semi-transparent probe in different colours, indicating
the drone’s status.

3. Battery compartment: The eBee X is powered by a LiHV (High Voltage
Lithium Polymer) battery stored within the battery compartment.

Caution: Safe charging and proper care of your battery are essen­tial. Please read Battery care and safety on page 85 before using your
drone for the first time.

4. Camera compartment: The eBee X features a built-in camera for taking
aerial images stored within the camera compartment.

5. Central body: This isthe core of theeBee X and includesall theelectronics,
actuators and communications hardware on-board the drone.

6. Servo connection mechanism: The ailerons are connected to the servo­motors withinthecentralbodyofthe drone throughthisconnection mech­anism.

7. Wing: TheeBeeX’swingsaredetachableforstorageandreplacement. Each
wing has two wing struts and a clip to hold it in place within the central
body.

8. Winglet: Contributes to the aerodynamic efficiency of the wing.

9. Strobe light: Indicates the drone’s position in low-light conditions.

10. Propeller: Used to generate thrust while the drone is in flight.

Caution: When attached to the motor the propeller spins at high
speeds andcan bepotentiallydangerousif itcomesinto contact with
exposed skin. Be sure toalwayskeepyourhandsclear ofthepropeller
when the battery is attached to the eBee X .

11. Motor: Spins the propeller.

12. Ambient temperature sensor: Meaasures the temperatureof the airout­side the drone.

13. Ailerons: Used to control the eBee X while in flight.

14. GNSS/RTK Antenna: The advanced GNSS antenna, capable of capturing
severalGNSS signals, isused for navigationandtoincreasegeotagging pre­cision.

15. Camera opening

16. Central body

17. Ground sensor: The LiDAR ground sensor isused to measure thedistance
to the ground.

18. Skid plate: The drone lands on this tough, plastic skid plate.

19. Wing struts: Reinfornce the wings’ connection with the central body and
provide the wings with strength and rigidity.

20. Wing release: Press to detach the wing.

4 eMotion flight planning and control software

eMotion is the integrated software package that allows you to interact with your
eBee X. Its easy-to-use interface allows you to plan a mapping flight intuitively

from thecomfort ofyour officeor directlyin thefield. Once the droneis launched,
you can use eMotion’s wireless connection with your eBee X to track its position,
monitor the progress of your mapping flight and send commands.

Your eBee X requires eMotion to fly.
Download the latest version at no extra cost∗from http://my.sensefly.com.

You’ll find eMotion’suser manual within eMotion.

∗

software access terms and conditions apply

5 About your eBee X’s drone license

To fly a eBee X you need a license.

• Standard
Purchased with the drone. Requires internet connection only once.

• Always On
Purchased with the drone. Requires regular connection to the internet.

If you havealicensethatrequiresa connection tothe internet,ensurethateMotion,
running on your computer, can reach https://sensefly.io/alive at least
once every 30 days. If it cannot, you will not be able to fly your drone.

With your drone connected to eMotion, you can find drone license information,
including the date and time before which you must connect to the internet, in
eMotion’s right-hand Drone panel’s Parameters tab.

6 About your eBee X’s RTK/PPK license

The eBee X includes built-in RTK/PPK functionality that can be activated straight
away or later, when required.

6.1 How to activate RTK/PPK

You will download an activation file during drone registration, then use eMotion
to activate PPK/RTK on your drone:

1. Register yourdronein my.senseFly. During registration process, youwill be
given the opportunity to download the activation file.

2. Download the activation file to the computer on which you have installed
eMotion.

3. In eMotion, open or create a mission†.

4. Click Connect and connect your eBee X to eMotion†.

5. Under eBee Plus upgrade in the right-hand Drone panel’s Parameters tab,
click Browse.

6. Locateonyourcomputertheactivationfileyoudownloadedfrommy.senseFly.

7. Click Start upgrade.

For full instructions on using your drone’s RTK/PPK capability, see your eMotion
user manual.

†

see your eMotion user manual for full instructions

Contents

1 About this user manual 12

2 Package contents 14

3 Hardware features 15

4 eMotion flight planning and control software 18

5 About your eBee X ’s drone license 19

6 About your eBee X ’s RTK/PPK license 19

6.1 How to activate RTK/PPK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

I Using your eBee X 25

7 Safety precautions 26

8 Operational guidelines 27

9 Before you fly 29

9.1 Charging your batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

9.2 Connecting & disconnecting the battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

9.3 Weather check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

10 Getting the eBee X ready to fly 34

10.1 Step 1: Perform a general inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

10.2 Step 2: Install the propeller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

10.3 Step 3: Install the camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

10.4 Step 4: Attach the wings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

10.5 Step 5: Install and connect the battery for flight . . . . . . . . . 41

10.6 Step 6: Connect to eMotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

11 Flying the eBee X 45

11.1 About the communication link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

11.2 Understanding the ground modem LED indicator . . . . . . . . 48

11.3 Troubleshooting connection problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

11.4 Take-off and landing spots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

11.5 Placing Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

11.6 Take-off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

11.7 Landing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

11.8 Potential in-flight errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

11.9 Understanding the drone’s LED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

11.10 Autonomous controller and modes of flight . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

II Maintenance and repair of the eBee X 77

11.11 Updating the eBee X’s software and firmware . . . . . . . . . . . 77

11.12 How to update the eBee X’s firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

11.13 Full airframe and sensor inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

11.14 Cleaning the eBee X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

11.15 Storing the eBee X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

11.16 Replacing the rubber bands and propeller . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

11.16.1 Rubber bands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

11.16.2 Propeller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

11.17 Repairing the eBee X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

11.18 Battery care and safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

11.19 Locating a lost eBee X in the field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

11.20 Reporting a problem with your eBee X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

III Specifications 93

Part I

Using your eBee X

Using your eBee X

7 Safety precautions

• Keep clear of the propeller
The propeller spins at high speeds and can be dangerous if it comes into
contact with exposed skin. Always keep all objects and all parts or your
body clear of the propeller when the battery is installed in your eBee X.

• Power the drone off before handling it
Power the eBee X off before picking it up. Never attempt to pick the eBee X
up while the propeller is turning.

• Never attempt to fly without an approved camera
The eBee X is not designed to fly without a camera in its camera bay.

• Never fly with the battery or camera bay exposed
The covers and integration kits protect the drone’s ports and electronics.

• Know how to, and be ready to abort take-off or landing if necessary
There areprocedures andbuttons ineMotion’s Control Barthat do this. See
Take-off on page 54 and the eMotion user manual.

• Never fly a damaged eBee X . Never fly with any damaged equipment

• Thewings must be correctly attached and the servos properly engaged
See Getting the eBee X ready to fly on page 34.

• The propeller must be correctly attached and in excellent condition

for flight

Never try and start the motorwithout the propeller. SeeGetting the eBee X
ready to fly on page 34.

26

Operational guidelines

8 Operational guidelines

• Only use approved senseFly batteries
Only fly with asenseFly battery. Flying with anyother battery risks causing
a malfunction and will void your warranty in case of an incident.

• Only use approved senseFly SD cards
Only fly with SD cards that have been approvedby senseFly.

• Always land on a stable, level surface
Do notattempt to land onasteep slopeor anareacoveredwith large rocks,
debris or holes. Do not land on a wet surface, soft sand, thick snow, dust,
or mud.

• Obey local flight restrictions
Unless authorised with, for example, a waiver from the relevant authority,
do notfly above people,urban areas, near airportsor beyondvisualline-of­sight. Do not fly inside or lessthan 0.5 km (0.3miles) from restricted zones.
Obey local regulations concerning the distance from pilot to drone. Take
care if flying near people or animals.

• Do not fly in high winds
The eBee X must not take off atall if the windspeed exceeds themaximum
allowed for flight. See Weather check on page 33.

• Do not fly in bad weather
Do not fly in rain, snow, hail, fog, a sandstorm or dust storm. Avoid icing
conditions.

• Avoid collisions
Always make sure there is enough space between the drone’s trajectory,
any obstacles and any other aircraft. Always double check waypoint alti­tudes and elevation data against the real terrain.

• Check drone battery charge level
Make sureyou have more thanenough foryourflight. Land well beforethe
battery is empty. See Battery care and safety on page 85.

27

Using your eBee X

• Set an appropriate working area
Set a working area that prevents your dronefrom flying outside communi­cations range, above the legal altitude limit, into prohibited airspace such
as private property or a nearby airport, or into a hazardous area. See the
eMotion user manual.

• Always fly with eMotion connected
Connect yourdrone toeMotion to provide situationalawareness,extended
communications range and a means of controlling your drone and initiat­ing a landing in case of incident.

• Check laptop battery charge level
Make sure your computer has more than enough battery charge for your
flight. Avoid using your laptop’s power saving mode – it may disable your
graphics card causing eMotion to run slowly.

• Always take off with a fully-charged drone battery
The power the drone can pull from its Lithium Polymer batteries is at its
maximum when the battery is fully charged.

• Provide eMotion with as much computing power as possible
Do not run memory- or processor-intensive software on the same com­puter as eMotion while flying. For example, do not process flight data, in­stall software, updatethe operating systemor run ananti-virus scan. Use a
high-performance power plan. Enable your computer’sgraphicscard(GPU).

• Ensure you can hear the alerts
Enable your computer’s sound and ensure that the volume is high enough
so that any alerts are clearly audible.

28

Operational guidelines

9 Before you fly

9.1 Charging your batteries

Before leaving for the field to perform a flight, be sure to fully charge your eBee X
batteries¹. The eBee X’s camera takes its power from the drone’s battery. It does
not have its own battery.

About your charger

Your eBee X’s battery charger independently balances the voltage of each of the
battery’s cells to ensure optimal performance and battery life.

The charger is capable of charging the battery to approximately 100% for flight,
70% for storage or 30% for shipping.

Charging for flight can take up to an hour and a half, depending on the charge
level of the battery and the amount of cell balancing required. See Battery care
and safety on page 85for more informationon maintainingyourdrone’s batteries.

For security purposes, when charging or discharging your batteries please take
into account possible differences between the indicated and actual charge level.

When charging, both the charging cable and the balancing cable must be con­nected to the charger.

¹ when delivered, the eBee X battery may not be fully charged

29

Using your eBee X

2

1

1 2

Task
System

USB

5V/2A

2

1

3

How to charge your eBee X batteries for flight

30

Operational guidelines

• Plug the charger in and allow it to start up.

• Plug both the charging (1) and balancing (2) plugs into the charger.

• Connect the charging cable to the battery.

• Long pressthe channel controlbutton for thebattery you have connected.

• Using the scroll wheel, choose the battery type then press the scroll wheel
to select.

• Using the scroll wheel, choose 100% (Flight) charge then press the scroll
wheel to start charging.

9.2 Connecting & disconnecting the battery

When connecting the battery tothe drone or charger, push theconnectors firmly
together.

31

Using your eBee X

When disconnecting, do not pull on the cables. Hold the connectors and pull:

Charging your battery for storage

Keeping LiHVbatteries,like thoseusedin youreBeeX, fully-charged ordischarged
forlong periodscanreducetheirperformance andlifetime. If youwillnotbe using
an eBee X battery for more than 2 weeks, you must store it at approximately 70%
charge.

Charging your battery for storage is similar to charging it for flight. Instead of
using 100% flight charging mode, choose 70% charging for storage.

32

Operational guidelines

9.3 Weather check

Before each flight, you should be aware of the weather conditions. The eBee X is
a small dronethat cannot fly inheavy rain or strong wind conditions. Icing condi­tions must also be avoided. In case of doubt, make sure to check a weather bul­letin includingwindestimationsintheflightarea. Note thatwindisoften stronger
at higheraltitudes andthat thewind perceived atthe surface isnot always a good
reference to estimate the wind atflight altitude. Cloud velocity or tall 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:

1 m/s = 3.6 km/h = 2.24 mph = 1.94 kts (nm/h).

Caution: The eBee X should not be launched if the wind speed ex-
ceeds 12.8 m/s (46.0 km/h, 28.6 mph, 24.9 kts).

Caution: The eBee X is not designed to fly in temperatures above
35 °C (95 °F). Avoid exposing the drone to high temperature for pro­longed periods of time. In particular, leaving the drone exposed to
the sun or in a hot car should be avoided.

33

Using your eBee X

6

2

4

Wing - detachedCentral body: top Central body: bottom

5

10 Getting the eBee X ready to fly

The eBee X’s 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.

Note: Remove the warning sticker from the motor before your first
flight.

Caution: Do not perform the inspection, propeller, camera or wing
installation with the battery connected to the drone.

10.1 Step 1: Perform a general inspection

Visually inspect the drone for damage or wear using the following steps:

34

1. Check the central body and wings for cracks or other damage.

2. Verify thatthe pitotprobe is properly attached tothe airframe and thatthe

Getting the eBee X ready to fly

holes in the probe are free of obstructions.

3. Verify that the ground sensor is clean, dry and free of obstructions.

4. Verify that the wing struts are not split or damaged in any way.

5. Verify that the tubes within the Central Body that hold the wing struts are
not cracked or damaged in any way.

Caution: It is vital to carefully inspect the wing struts and tubes
within theCentral Bodybeforeevery flight, asthey maycause acrash
if they are damaged in any way. This is particularly important if the
wings were found separated from the Central Body after a previous
flight.

6. Verify that the servos turn smoothly.

7. Verify that the propeller rubber bands are all in place and are in good con­dition.

8. Verify that the propeller is in good condition for flight and is properly at­tached.

9. Verify that the powercables within thebattery compartment arewell insu­lated and not damaged.

10. Verify that the camera’s lens is clean.

Note: You must performa generalinspection before every flight. It is
also good practice to perform a full airframe check regularly to keep
your eBee X in good shape.

See also Full airframe and sensor inspection on page 79.

35

Using your eBee X

10.2 Step 2: Install the propeller

Mount the propeller on the motor axis. Secure the propeller using three attach­ment rubber bands as illustrated above. Ensure that the propeller is lying flat
against the motor mount, and that the rubber bands do not show cracks or any
other sign of ageing.

36

Getting the eBee X ready to fly

Caution: Always use 3 rubber bands to secure the propeller. Failure
to do so may result in the loss of the propeller in flight.

After extensive use,the rubberbandsmaydevelopcracks. This

Note:

is normal and is caused by the ageing of the rubber material. Store
the rubber bands away from UV light (sunlight) and heat sources,for
example, inyourdrone’s case. Inspect the rubberbandsregularlyand
discard themif theyshow cracks. 10 sparerubber bandsare included
in the package.

37

Using your eBee X

10.3 Step 3: Install the camera

Follow these instructions to install the S.O.D.A. 3D into the drone’s camera bay.
To install other cameras, please refer to the camera’s user manual².

Installing the camera into the drone

1. Ensure that nothing is connected to your drone. That is, your drone’s bat­tery is not connected, and your drone is not connected to a computer.

2. Make sure the SD card is not full. Insert it into the camera and close the
cover.

3. Plug the camera connector into the socket within the eBee X’s camera bay.

4. Install the camera into the drone’s camera bay.

Caution: eBee Xs are not designed to fly without the camera. At-
tempting to fly without the camera may render the drone unstable,
leading to a crash.

² some cameras may require a separate SD card. Please refer to your camera’s user manual for full

installation instructions.

38

Getting the eBee X ready to fly

Caution: Connect only compatible senseFly cameras to the drone’s
camera port. Never try to connect anything else.

39

Using your eBee X

1

2

10.4 Step 4: Attach the wings

Attach thewings tothe centralbodyby inserting thewing strutsinto therecepta­cles in the central body (1). Ensure that the aileronsare properly aligned with the
servo connection mechanism (2) before pushing the wings fully into the central
body until they click.

Caution: Flying with damaged wing struts, a badly-engaged servo
connection mechanism or wings that are not properly attached may
cause erraticflight and ultimately a crash. Carefully inspect thestruts
and makesure thatthe wingsare properlyattached andservos prop­erly engaged before every flight.

40

Getting the eBee X ready to fly

2

1

10.5 Step 5: Install and connect the battery for flight

41

Using your eBee X

1. Lay the drone flat on the ground outside, on its belly, in a place that has a
clear view of the sky, for example, where you intend to take off from. The
drone must not be inclined more than 10° to start up properly.

2. Connect the drone’s battery cable to the battery, pushing the connector
firmly in.

3. Insert the battery into itscompartment, fastenthestrapand closethe com­partment lid.

Caution: Keep clear of the propeller in case it suddenly starts spin­ning.

42

Getting the eBee X ready to fly

preflight checks failed

blue

pulse

status LED:

green

solid

status LED:

ready for startup

connect battery

red

blink

status LED:

disconnect battery

Startup

process:

Note: Only connect the battery cables to the drone when you are
ready tofly. Do notleavethe battery connected for extendedperiods
of time when the drone is on the ground, as this may discharge the
batteries and cause irreparable damage. When connected and not
in flight, the eBee X will briefly move its ailerons up and down every
minute as a reminder that it is switched on.

Caution: With the drone powered on but not in flight, there is no air
flow to cool the camera andit will rapidlyheat up. Take offas soon as
possible. Do not touch the hot camera.

As soon as the battery is connected the eBee X will perform an automatic self­check of its sensors and acquire GNSS signals. Do not move the drone during
these tests. Pre-flight checks may last from a few seconds to several minutes in
the case of poor GNSS signal reception. As these satellite signals are required for
the checks to complete, be sure to place the eBee X outside with a clear view of
the sky.

During the pre-flight checks the status LED will pulse blue. Once the pre-flight
checks are complete the eBee X will flip its ailerons up and down and the status
LED will turn solid green to indicate it is ready.

You can connect the drone to eMotion during the pre-flight checks. eMotion will
report the status of the checks.

43

Using your eBee X

Note: If there was any problem during the pre-flight checks per­formed bythe drone this willreported ineMotion and thedrone’s sta­tus LED blinking red. See your eMotion UserManual for a description
of possible pre-flight errors and how to handle them.

10.6 Step 6: Connect to eMotion

Start byconnectingtheUSBgroundmodemtoyourcomputer. Then launcheMotion
and follow theinstructions in your eMotionuser manual toconnect your droneto
eMotion.

Note: Each eBee X is paired with the ground modem it is delivered
with, and will only work with that modem.

Note: Do not use a USB cable that is more than 3 m (10 ft) long.

When a connection is established eMotion’s Status Panel will indicate the current
state of the drone. While the eBee X obtains its location the Status Panel will in­dicate ‘GNSS: Waiting for signals...’. During this time the status LED on the drone
will pulse blue.

Once your drone has set its position using GNSS signals, an icon of the drone will
appear atits locationon themap. If thedrone’s location is notonthe mapyou can
centre the map on the drone³. The drone’s status on eMotion will be displayed as
Idle and its status LED will shine solid blue.

You can now set take-off and landing spots, assign a mission plan and fly your
drone. See your eMotion user manual for details.

³ see your eMotion user manual

44

Flying the eBee X

11 Flying the eBee X

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 eBee X in flight.

11.1 About the communication link

Your eBee X must be in contact with eMotion through the ground modem at all
times. To maintain this connection the ground modem’s signal must be able to
reach the eBee X.

Data connection range can be affected by many external factors such as antenna
height, terrain and obstacles or radio interference.

You may occasionally lose the data connection between eMotion and your eBee X
while in the field. Whether there is a loss in uplink or downlink communication,
the drone will continue its mission and should re-establish the connection as it
flies closer to the ground modem or changes direction.

If the drone stops receiving messages from eMotion for more than 30 s a Warning
will be raised. If, for safety reasons you want the eBee X to automatically return
Home whenthis happens, activate thatsafetyaction ineMotion (see youreMotion
user manual).

If eMotion stops receiving messages from the drone (downlink direction), a Data
downlink lost message will appear in eMotion. If there is still an active uplink con-

45

Using your eBee X

nection you may still command your drone to return to Home using eMotion.
The strength of the connection between the drone and eMotion is indicated in

eMotion and by the LEDs on the ground modem (see Understanding the ground
modem LED indicator on page 48).

Maintaining a good communication signal

A straight line between the ground modem antenna and the drone is called the
line of sight. For a strong ground modem signal to reach the drone, the line of
sight, and a zone a few metres wide around the line of sight, must be clear of
obstacles.

Tree too close to line of sight

To prevent loss of contact with the drone:

• Position the ground modem at least1.6 m (5.2 ft), ideally3 m (10 ft),above
the ground or any other surface.

• Do not sit the ground modem on a metal surface such as the roof of a ve­hicle.

• Bend the antenna up by 90° at its hinge.

• Do not position the modem with the antenna lined up along the line of
sight. Instead, tilt it so that it is perpendicular to the line of sight.

46

Flying the eBee X

• Avoid flying in the zone directly in line with the antenna. For example, if
the antennas are pointingupwards, avoid flying directly above the ground
modem.

• Disable any 2.4GHz-based communication devices (or put them into flight
mode) in the vicinity of the USB ground modem. This includes all Wi-Fi
devices, including mobilephones and the computer on which youare run­ning eMotion.

Note: You can raise your ground modem up to 3 m (16 ft) using a
tripod or light stand. The eBee X’s ground modem is not equipped
with ascrew mountandwill alsoneed aholder. Youcan findsenseFly
accessory recommendations on my.senseFly:
https://sensefly.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/227017867

47

Using your eBee X

11.2 Understanding the ground modem LED indicator

The ground modem has 3 red LEDs.
When you power on themodem by connecting it to your computer, the red LEDs

will briefly shine, then switch off while the modem is starting up. After approxi­mately one minute, when the modem isready,the LEDs willindicate the statusof
the connection to your eBee X:

LED(s) Connection strength

2 LEDs lit + 1 blinking Strong
1 LED lit + 1 blinking Moderate
1 LED blinking Weak
All (blinking) No connection

11.3 Troubleshooting connection problems

If,during flight,thegroundmodemLEDs switchoff, leavingonlyone blinkingLED,
you are at risk of losing the connection with your drone. You should take action
to improve the connection.

If, during flight, all 3 LEDs start blinking and eMotion reports that you have lost
the connectionwith yourdrone⁴, thedronecarries outa safety action. You should
take action to improve the connection.

⁴ see your eMotion user manual

48

Flying the eBee X

If,duringflight, eMotionreportsthatyouhavelosttheconnectionwithyourdrone,
but one or more ground modem LEDs are lit, this indicates a problem with your
computer,the software, or the USB connection. Do one or more of the following:

• Restart eMotion.

• Unplug the USB cable from your computer then plug it back in.

• Unplug the USB cable from your computer then plug it back into another
of your computer’s USB ports.

• Change the USB cable, for example, use a shorter cable.

• Restart your computer.

• Contact senseFly or your reseller.

49

Using your eBee X

11.4 Take-off and landing spots

The Take-offand landing phase ofaflightincludes thelocationsandactionsrelated
to the drone’s take-off and landing and includes the following:

• Take-off spot:
The point from which the drone is launched, automatically set to the loca­tion calculated from GNSS signals by the drone. This location defines the
altitude of 0 m/ATO (0 ft/ATO) where /ATO stands for above take-off; the
altitudes of all other waypoints, when defined in m/ATO (ft/ATO), are refer­enced to the altitude of this location.

• Start waypoint:
The Start waypoint is the firstpoint thatthe dronegoes towhen itstarts an
autonomous flight.

• Landing spot:
The point, directly under Home, at which the drone will land at the end of
an autonomous mission, after having visited Home.

• Home waypoint:
The Home waypoint is the point that the drone will head to at the end of
an autonomous mission. It is also the point it will head to ifit encounters a
problem during flight.

See youreMotion user manualfor instructionson placingand editingtake-off and
landing spots.

50

2

1

3

4

5

60 m

30 m

40 m

Keep these zones free of obstacles

Wind direction

1. Landing approach

2. Landing/Home

3. Take-off

4. Take-off transition altitude r

eached

5. Start

Linear landing

Keep these zones free of obstacles

1. Landing approach

2. Landing/Home

3. Take-off

4. Take-off transition altitude reached

5. Start

Keep these zones obstacle-free

2

1

3

4

5

40m

10m

40m

40m

Flying the eBee X

Steep landing

It is important to carefully select the take-off spot, Start placement and the land­ing spot/Home waypoint to ensure your drone remains at a safe distance from
obstacles.

The eBee X should always be launched against the wind. Select a take-off spot
clear of obstacles (buildings, rocks, power lines, hills, trees, etc) within a distance
of at least 40 m (130 ft) in the upwind direction. Immediately after take-off the

51

Using your eBee X

drone will keep its wings level and climb in the general direction it was launched
until it reaches the take-off transition altitude⁵, at which point it will start flying
towards Start.

By default, Start is set at an altitude of 75 m/ATO (250 ft/ATO). It is good practice
to placeStart closeto andupwindfrom thetake-off spot toallowa smoothtransi­tion between take-off and waypoint-directed flight. You can move waypoints by
clicking on them and dragging them within the Map Area⁶.

Home is used as a safety position in case of an in-flight issue.

Note: There are a number of requirements that must be fulfilled to
ensure a successful landing. Landing on page 62 describes in more
detail thelanding processandhow toproperlydefine yourlanding in
more complexterrain. In particular, insome conditions, the precision
of the final landing spot is reduced. Therefore, it is safer to plan for
more clearance, especially along the landing axes.

Note: Some situations can make the ground sensor misjudge the
drone’s height above ground and can cause an imprecise landing. In
these casesyoucandisablethegroundsensor. TheeBeeX willinstead
land where it expects the ground to be, using only altitude informa­tion from its barometer, resulting in lower landing accuracy.

11.5 Placing Home

By default, Home is set at an altitude of 75 m/ATO (250 ft/ATO). If a GO TO HOME
procedure is triggered during flight⁷ the drone will, by default, determine the
highest altitude between its current altitude and Home’s altitude, and climb in
a circle towards that highest altitude (if required). Once it reaches this highest

⁵ by default, this is set to 20 m (66 ft). In difficult launch conditions you can set both the take-off

heading and the take-off transitionaltitude inthetake offparameters, as described in youreMotion

user manual.
⁶ see your eMotion user manual for more detailed instructions
⁷ either automatically due to a Warning or manually using eMotion

52

Flying the eBee X

altitude it will then fly towards Home.
Set Home’s altitude with care. It should be at least 20 m (66 ft) higher than the

surroundingobstacles toavoidtheriskofa crash,butshouldnot besettoohighto
reduce the effect of potentially highwinds and altitude and to prevent the drone
from getting lost.

53

Using your eBee X

15 cm

(6 in)

11.6 Take-off

Once you’ve plannedyourmissionand theeBeeX is poweredon withasolidgreen
status LED you are ready to launch it.

Launching your drone safely

Do not hold the drone near the ends of the wings

54

Flying the eBee X

Caution: Keep the propeller area clear at all times during the launch
procedure.

A safety distance of at least 15 cm (6 in) between the propeller and any part of
your body, clothing or any object must be maintained.

Do not wear any item of clothing that hangs down in front of you. Do not wear a
loose tie. Do not wear clothing that has strings or toggleshanging down in front,
for example, a coat or hoodie with hood strings.

Takecarewhenwearingbulkyclothing,forexample, athickcoat. Alwaysmaintain
the safety distance between the propeller and your clothing.

Before startingthe drone’s propellers,hold thedroneoutin frontofyouand check
that you can maintain the requiredsafety distance from the propeller. If youcan­not, do not attempt to launch the drone.

55

Using your eBee X

Horizontal

green

solid

blue

pulse

status LED: status LED:

Not horizontal

no holding

zone

no holding zone

d

a

n

g

e

r

z

o

n

e

n

o

h

o

l

d

i

n

g

z

o

n

e

shake 3x

Step 1: Orientate horizontally and against the wind

Orientate yourselfagainst the directionof the wind,and confirmthat the take-off
direction in front of you is free of obstacles.

Firmly grasp the drone with both hands, one hand on the front of each wing at
the centre of wing’s leading edge, as shown.

56

Flying the eBee X

Hold the drone horizontally with the nose pointed against the wind and level
wings.

Caution: Do not hold the drone with your hands at the ends of its
wings.

Note: If the drone detects a condition that prevents correct take-off
a Take-off veto⁸ will be displayed in eMotion and the status LED will
start pulsing blue. For example, if the droneis not horizontal the sta­tus LED will start pulsing blue until you reorientate it horizontally, at
which point the status LED turns solid green again.

Caution: It is imperative to launch the drone directly against the
wind, otherwise it will be unable to gain enough speed during take­off and likely crash. Likewise, launching the drone in high winds
above the specified safe wind speed of 12 m/s (23 kts) is dangerous
and can result in a crash.

57

Using your eBee X

3x

shake 3x

d

a

n

g

e

r

z

o

n

e

n

o

h

o

l

d

i

n

g

z

o

n

e

shake 3x

motor startup begins

green

solid

status LED:

blue

pulse

status LED:

Step 2: Start the motor

Shake the eBeeX back andforth 3 timeslongitudinally (within approx. 3 seconds)
to begin the motor power-up sequence.

The power-up sequence has 2 stages:

1. The motor runs at low power for a few seconds and at the same time, the
drone moves its ailerons up and down several times. This is both an auto­matictest, andan opportunity tovisuallychecktheoperationoftheailerons.

58

Caution: Look carefullyat the aileronsas they move. Make sure they
are moving freely and are properly engaged in the servos.

Flying the eBee X

2. The motor spins up to full power, ready for take-off.
The status LED will pulse blue untilthe motor is at full power and ready for

take-off.

Caution: Take great care not to touch the spinning propeller with
your clothes or a part of your body.

Note: To abort the take-off and shut off the motor, just shake the
drone 3 times again, (repeat the back and forth action three times).
Always wait at least 2 minutes between take-off attempts to allow
the motor to cool.

Caution: Once the motor is at full power and the LED is green, you
have 15 s to launch the drone. After 15 s the motor cuts out and you
cannot take off again for 2 minutes.

59

Using your eBee X

green

solid

status LED:

45˚

Take 1 or 2 steps

1

Push and release

2

45˚

motor ready for take-off

green

blink

status LED:

blue

pulse

status LED:

green

solid

status LED:

step forward and release

Always orientate the drone
against the wind for take-off!

lift nose up 45°

45°

d

a

n

g

e

r

z

o

n

e

Step 3: Launch the eBee X

60

Flying the eBee X

Once the motor is at full power the status LED will blink green.
Orientate the drone with its nose approximately 45° up and with level wings.

When the nose-up angleis correct, the status LED will turn solidgreen, indicating
that the drone is ready for take-off.

Launch thedronewith a gentlepush,walking1-2stepsforwardwhilegently guid­ing it forwards andup along the 45°climb slope and releasing it from both hands
simultaneously in a forward motion.

After take-off, the drone tries to maintain its initial direction, or follow the direc­tional take-off heading you set, by keeping its wings level with full thrust until
reaching the take-off transition altitude (by default 20 m (66 ft)). At this point, it
will switch into waypoint navigation mode and fly towards Start. Once it reaches
Start, the drone will circle around the waypoint 1-2 times to estimate the wind
and calibrate its sensors before starting its mission⁹.

⁹ TheeBeeX may also be programmed to wait at Start for a command before starting its mission. See

your eMotion user manual for more information.

61

Using your eBee X

11.7 Landing

After finishinga mappingmission thedrone will,by default¹⁰,return toHome and
automatically initiate a landing.

The eBee X can perform either a Linear or Steep landing. Linear landing is the
default and recommended landing type.

The landing process uses an LiDAR ground sensor to detect the proximity of the
ground.

Caution: Do not attempt to use the ground sensor as a means to
avoid obstacles; in certain conditions it may fail to detect them.

A number of conditions on the environment and the positions of Home and ap­proach sectors must be met in order for the ground sensor to function correctly
and ensure the accuracy of the landing:

• If the landing spot is not at the same altitude as take-off you must adjust
the landing altitude in
and slow down before landing.

eMotion

, as the drone uses this altitude to level out

Caution: Incorrectly setting the altitude of the Linear landing spot
will decrease the accuracy of the Linear landing and may result in
damage to the eBee X.

• If possible, choose a landing spot that is flat beyond each approach sector
(on the opposite side of the landing spot to the approach) and keep it free
of obstacles, in case the landing needs to be aborted.

• During a landing the drone needsenough power to slowdown its descent
using reverse thrust. If the battery descends below 20%, eMotion will raise
a Warning.

¹⁰ see your eMotion user manual for information on changing the default behaviours of the drone

62

Flying the eBee X

• The ground sensor must be able to accurately detect the height above the
ground. Ensure that it is clear of dirt or other obstructions and do not at­tempt to land using the ground sensor through fog or thick haze.

Caution: Attempting a landingon sloped terrain, the top of aroof or
the edgeof acliff oranyother terrain that isnotflat willlikely result in
false detection of the height above the ground during the approach
and may result in damage to the eBee X. In particular, landing down­hill may cause a large overshoot and should always be avoided.

Caution: Landing between tall obstacles is not recommended; they
may disturb the GNSS signals your

eBee X

needs to be able to navi-

gate.

Caution: If thedrone isforcedto landdownwindin strongwind con­ditions, or with certain Warnings or Critical failures active, it may not
be able toslow enough duringits descent. It will likely overshoot the
landing spot and land at a high speed, potentially resulting in dam­age.

If a landing is aborted before completion the drone will turn on its motor in full
thrust and gain altitude while continuing in a straight line in its approach direc­tion. Once the altitude of 40 m/ATO (130 ft/ATO) is reached the drone will turn
towards Home and continue climbing until it reaches Home. It then continues
circling until it receives a further command.

Caution: Do not abort a landing if there are large obstacles beyond
the landing spot, as the drone will continue flying in a straight line
after an abort sequence while it gains altitude and may collide with
those obstacles.

Caution: Aborting a landing after a low battery Warning is not rec­ommended; thedrone may nothaveenough powertoattempta sec­ond landing.

63

Using your eBee X

Once it has landed, disconnect the battery from the drone before picking it up.
We recommend you immediately import the images and flight data after each

flight (see your eMotion user manual) before putting the eBee X back in its case
for storage. Your images and flight data are stored on the camera’s SD card.

When disconnectingthewings,be suretogentlypullthem straightouttoprevent
damage to the wing struts. Check the wing struts for any damage before putting
them into the storage case. Remove the propeller if you don’t plan on using the
eBee X for an extended period of time.

64

Flying the eBee X

15˚

20˚

50 m (164 ft)

15 m

30 m

50 m (164 ft) 60 m (197 ft) 5 m (16 ft)

1

Home

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Linear landing

The drone descends at a shallow angle (approximately 20°) within one or several
approach sectors you define.

Figure 2: Linear landing procedure, seen from the side

1. Home approach

2. Spiral up or down to between 50 and 75
m above landing spot

3. Circle to measure wind

4. Fly downwind

5. Landing approach

6. Level out at 20 m

7. Final braking at 3 m

8. Deep stall

9. Landing

A typical Linear landing follows these steps:

1. The eBee X flies towards Home (defined bythe userwithin eMotion; default
altitude is 75 m (250 ft) above the landing altitude). The drone will fly to
Home at whichever altitude is the highest; its current altitude or Home’s
altitude. It will climb in a spiral first if needed.

2. Once Home isreached the dronecircles the waypoint then either climbs or
descends to the altitude at which it will begin its downwind landing leg.

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Using your eBee X

This altitude depends on the difference in altitude between Home and the
landing spot:

• If Home is more than75 m (250 ft) above the landing spot, the drone
will descend to 75 m (250 ft) before starting the downwind leg.

• If Homeisbetween 50m(160 ft)75m (250ft) above thelanding spot,
the drone will start the downwind leg at that altitude.

• If Home is less than 50 m (160 ft) above the landing spot, the drone
will climb to 50 m (160 ft) above the landing spot before starting the
downwind leg.

3. Thedronecirclestoestimatethewindspeed anddirection. Anapproachdi­rection isthencalculatedasclosetotheupwinddirectionaspossiblewithin
the allowable approach sectors (defined by the user within eMotion).

4. The drone flies downwind against the approach direction. After flying for
a sufficient distance it turns around to align itself with the approach direc­tion.

5. The droneglides down inthe approach direction at a controlledspeed and
descent angle of approximately 20°, braking by spinning its propeller in
reverse if necessary.

6. When the drone detects a height of around 20 m (66 ft) to the ground it
begins to level out its descent.

7. When the drone detects a height of around 3 m (10 ft) to the ground it
performs a final brake to reduce its speed and lifts its nose.

8. The drone then glides for the final few metres in a deep stall until it lands.

A linear landing can only be performed onto flat terrain. Ensure that the ground
is flat and at the same altitude as the landingspot for a distance of at least 100 m
(329 ft) ahead of the landing spot within every approach sector. Inside the ap­proach sectors,ensure thatthereare noobstacles within60 m(197 ft)of theland­ing spot.

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Flying the eBee X

15m

Approach sectors:

- textured

- flat terrain,

- obstacle-free

Obstacle-free zone
below Home

Ensure that a circle of radius of 15 m (49 ft) around the landing spot is obstacle­free. If there are obstacles further away, ensurethat the top of the obstacles is no
higher than a line that ascends at a 15°angle from a point on the ground 60 m
(197 ft) from the landing spot.

In order to limit the ground speed when landing and to achieve the best landing
accuracy, only perform a Linear landing against the wind.

Linear landing approach sectors should be as wideas possible and in as many di­rections as possible to allow the drone to select the optimal approach direction

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Using your eBee X

based on its estimate of the wind direction. If your approach sectors only allow a
downwind landing, eMotion will raise a Warning¹¹ at the moment the drone cal­culates its landing trajectory (Step 3).

You can rotate and resize approach sectors in eMotion, confining them to zones
that are completely clear of obstacles. You can also add additional approach sec­tors. These approach sectors will be used by the drone to plan its landing path
while taking into account the wind. Defining multiple possible approach sectors
can increase the chance that the drone selects a favourable landing against the
direction of the wind.

The eBee X’s ground sensor can typically begin detecting ground proximity at a
distance of 60 m (197 ft).

If, during a Linear landing, the drone reaches an estimate altitude of 20 m/ATO
(66 ft/ATO) – as estimated using the on-board GNSS receiver and pressure sensor
– without a signal from its ground sensor, it assumes there is a malfunction with
the ground sensor. This can be caused by fog, dirt on the sensor’s lens assembly
or a landing spot at a different altitude than the Take-off spot.

If thishappens,the droneperformsthe brakingandstall manoeuvreatanaltitude
of 20 m (66 ft) instead of 3 m (10 ft). This increased time while stalled can greatly
reduce the accuracy of the final landing position and may cause damage to the
drone.

¹¹ see your eMotion user manual

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Flying the eBee X

30˚

30 m

50 m (164 ft)

20 m (66 ft)

30˚

30 m

50 m (164 ft)

35˚

35˚

Home

2

3

1

5 5

4 4

Steep landing

The drone descends at a steep angle (35°).
The landing strip has the landing point at its centre, giving the drone the choice

of two approach directions. To avoid landing with a tailwind and overshooting,
the drone decides itself from which of these directions it will land.

Align thelandingstripwiththe windsothatone oftheapproachdirectionsresults
in the drone landing directly into the wind.

Figure 3: Steep landing procedure, seen from the side

1. Home approach

2. Spiral up or down to between 50 and 75 m above landing spot

3. Circle to measure wind

4. Fly downwind

5. Steep descent to ground

Move and rotate the landing strip so that both approach directions are free of
obstacles (see your eMotion user manual).

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Using your eBee X

A typical Steep landing follows these steps:

1. The eBee X flies towards Home (defined bythe userwithin eMotion; default
altitude is 75 m (250 ft) above the landing altitude). The drone will fly to
Home at whichever altitude is the highest; its current altitude or Home’s
altitude. It will climb in a spiral first if needed.

2. Once Home isreached the dronecircles the waypoint then either climbs or
descends to the altitude at which it will begin its downwind landing leg.
This altitude depends on the difference in altitude between Home and the
landing spot:

• If Home is more than75 m (250 ft) above the landing spot, the drone
will descend to 75 m (250 ft) before starting the downwind leg.

• If Homeisbetween 50m(160 ft)75m (250ft) above thelanding spot,
the drone will start the downwind leg at that altitude.

• If Home is less than 50 m (160 ft) above the landing spot, the drone
will climb to 50 m (160 ft) above the landing spot before starting the
downwind leg.

3. The drone circles to estimate the wind speed and direction. An approach
direction is then calculated, and the drone chooses from which of the two
possible directions (defined by the landing strip) it will land.

4. The drone flies downwind against the approach direction. After flying for
a sufficient distance it turns around to align itself with the approach direc­tion.

5. The drone uses reverse thrust to enter a steep descent at an angle of ap­proximately 35°until it reaches the ground.

• Ensure that the ground is flat and at the same altitude as the landing spot
for a distance of at least 30 m (98 ft) ahead of the landing spot in both ap­proach directions.

• Ensure that there are noobstacles within 40 m (131 ft) of the landing spot.

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Flying the eBee X

2

1

3

4

5

40m

10m

40m

40m

• Ensurethatacircleof radius of5m(16ft)aroundthe landingspot is obstacle­free. If thereareobstacles furtheraway,ensurethatthe topoftheobstacles
is no higher than a line that ascends at a 30°angle from the landing spot.

Note: If your drone’sground sensor isobscured or ismalfunctioning,
it can still carry out a steep landing with reduced precision.

Caution: You cannotforcethedronetochoose oneortheotherland­ing direction. Ensure that the drone is freeto land in eitherdirection.

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Using your eBee X

Caution: Hard Steeplandings may be morecommon inwinds below
5 m/s(10 kts). Short Steep landingsmay occurin windsabove10 m/s
(19 kts). Take care in changing winds.

11.8 Potential in-flight errors

The drone canencounter two types oferror messages while flying: Warnings and
Critical failures. Warnings typically indicate a dangerous situation such as a low
battery or strong winds and typically result in a safety action such as a return to
Home.

See your eMotion user manual for a full description of Warnings and Critical fail­ures that may occur.

Note: It isimportant tokeep trackof thelocation ofthe drone during
a Critical failure until themoment itreaches theground. Its position’s
coordinates can aid in finding it afterwards.

11.9 Understanding the drone’s LED

The drone’s LED indicates the drone’s status. It will shine, pulse (or ’breathe’) or
blink different colours:

72

Pulsing Blue

Intermittent Blinking White

Blinking Yellow

Blinking Red

Blinking Green

Constant Red

Constant Green

Pulsing White

Pulsing Yellow

Pulsing Green

Preflight Checks running

Preflight Checks OK

Take off: Wrong angle

Take off: Ready for launch

Preflight Check Issue

Update issue

USB connection for reading

logs and files ready

Landing in progress

USB connection for update

ready

Update in progress

on the drone

Off

Drone Off or in flight

(or Recovery Mode)

Flying the eBee X

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Using your eBee X

11.10 Autonomous controller and modes of flight

During a typical flight the autonomous controller on the eBee X will switch be­tween various modes depending on its flight plan and the commands that it re­ceives from eMotion¹². The controller changes between modes during a typical
mission as shown in the figure above.

¹² see your eMotion user manual for details

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Flying the eBee X

The following mode changes might occur during a typical flight:

• After being switched onand running pre-flight checks thedrone will enter
Idle modeuntilit isreadytobe launched. Shaking thedroneback andforth
three times initiates the take-off procedure¹³ and changes to the Take-off
mode.

• After take-off the drone climbs with level wings¹⁴, gaining altitude until it
reaches the take-off transition altitude¹⁵. At this point the drone heads for
Start and changes to Circle Start Waypoint mode.

• Once it reaches Start, the drone circles the waypoint several times to esti­mate the strength of the wind. Once it calculates the estimated wind the
drone either:

– head towards the first mission waypoint (if instructed in eMotion to

start mission after take-off ) and change to Perform Mission mode.

– continues circling Start until a command is received from eMotion.

• While inPerformMission modethedroneflies betweenallenabledmission
waypoints, taking images of the ground below. Once it reaches the final
mission waypoint the drone either:

– heads towards Home(if instructed by eMotion to land or go toHome

after mission), and changes to Circle Home Waypoint mode.

– heads towards Start (if instructed by eMotion to goto Start after mis-

sion), and changes to Circle Start Waypoint mode.

• Clicking HOLD in eMotion during flight will causethe drone to start circling
its current position and change to Hold Position mode until it receives a
new commandfromeMotion. This modeisalsoenabledautomaticallyafter
certain Warning or Critical failure conditions¹⁶.

¹³ as described in Take-off on page 54
¹⁴ or in a given direction when using the Directional take-off feature described in your eMotion user

manual
¹⁵ see your eMotion user manual for details on changing this altitude
¹⁶ see your eMotion user manual for a full list of Warning and Critical failure conditions and the subse-

quent reactions of the drone

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Using your eBee X

• Triple-clicking the LAND NOW in eMotion will cause the drone toinitiate an
emergency landing procedureand spiral down tothe ground atits current
location and switch to Emergency Landing mode.

• After returning Home (if in Circle Home Waypoint mode) the drone will ei­ther:

– Begin its landingprocedure(as describedin Landing on page 62)and

change to Landing mode (if instructed by eMotion to land after mis­sion).

– Circle Homeand remainsin CircleHome Waypoint mode untila com-

mand is sent.

• After completingalanding procedure anddetecting thatit hassuccessfully
landed, the drone changes to Idle mode.

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Part II

Maintenance and repair of the

eBee X

Goal of this section: This section describes how to update the ac­companying software and on-board firmware, keep your drone in
good working condition and perform small repairs such as cracks in
the airframe.

11.11 Updating the eBee X ’s software and firmware

Occasionally, senseFly releases aneMotion software and eBee X firmwareupgrade
to provide additional features to our users or to correct potential issues. eMotion
will check for new versions during start-up¹⁷ and will display a message with up­date instructions if a new version is available.

We also recommend that you check my.senseFly¹⁸ regularly for updates to en­sure you have the latest version of the software. Download the installer from
my.senseFly and follow the installation procedure described in your eMotion user
manual. You do not need to uninstall the previous version before installing the
new one.

It is important that the drone’s firmware and eMotion version are kept in step.
senseFly will always release eMotion and firmware updates together. Make sure
that you keep both up-to-date and aligned.

To check which version of eMotion you have installed, click About eMotion on its
Welcome page. Your eBee X’s firmware version is also shown in eMotion when it’s

¹⁷ provided that there is an internet connection
¹⁸ http://my.sensefly.com

Maintenance and repair of the eBee X

connected to your drone (see your eMotion user manual for details).

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

11.12 How to update the eBee X’s firmware

Every version of eMotion is packaged with an accompanying firmware revision
which must be installed on the drone before it can be used.

1. Remove the drone’s propeller¹⁹.

2. Connect theUSB cable betweenthe computeronwhich you installedeMotion
and your drone’s autopilot socket (inside the camera bay, marked ).

3. Connect the battery to the drone. The status LED will pulse yellow.

4. Launch eMotion.

5. In eMotion, click the Updater tab and follow the instructions. While updat­ing the LED blinks yellow. After a successful update, the LED pulses white.
After a failed update, the LED shines red.

6. Once the update has completed, restart your drone. If it’s still blinking yel­low after 10 minutes, restart your drone.

7. Replace the propeller. Never try and start the motor without the propeller.

¹⁹ there is a small risk that the propeller spins during the update

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Flying the eBee X

11.13 Full airframe and sensor inspection

Beyond the general airframe inspection that is performed before every flight²⁰,
senseFly recommends that the operator performs a full airframe and sensor in­spection ²¹ every 10 flighthours, on removal from extended storageand after any
repair, heavy landing or other unexpected incident. This will give the aircraft a
safety rate comparable to manned aircraftand keep theeBee X in good operating
condition.

Caution: The autopilot, sensors and actuators within the Central
Body of the eBee X are specially calibrated and should only be mod­ified by senseFly or a certified eBee X reseller. Opening the Central
Body of the eBee X will void the warranty.

Caution: The propeller on the eBee X spins at high speeds and can
cause deep cuts if it comes into contact with exposed skin. Always
wear gloves and safety glasses when any work is done requiring the
battery to be connected to the drone.

Carry out this full inspection with the wings and a propeller attached.

²⁰ See Getting theeBee X readytofly on page 34
²¹ See Full airframe and sensor inspection

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Maintenance and repair of the eBee X

status LED/pitot probe

servo connection
mechanism

motor

Check 1: Motor and Servos

TheeBee X usesabrushless DCmotortoturnitspropellerand generate thrust. The
servos are the two actuators connected through a servo connection mechanism
to both ailerons.

The motormust beclean and spinsmoothly withoutfriction tofunction correctly.
The servos must turn smoothly. Damaged servos can prevent the drone from fly­ing correctly and thus it is important to ensure their proper functioning.

To check the motor and servos, follow these steps:

1. Ensure thatthereis nosand orother obstructionswithin themotor. If there
is something blocking the motor from spinning smoothly blow some air
through the motor to dislodge the obstruction.

2. Turntheservosandensurethattheymovesmoothlyandhavethefullrange
of motion.

In case of doubt, record a short video and follow the instructions in Reporting a
problem with your eBee X on page 89 for advice.

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Flying the eBee X

Check 2: 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 by the artificial horizon
in eMotion. To check the inertial sensors, follow these steps:

1. Switch the eBee X on by connecting the battery and connect to eMotion.

2. Put the drone on a flat surface (typically an office floor) and check that the
artificial horizon is level.

3. Take the drone in your hands, tilt the nose up and down and tilt the wings
to theleftandright. Make surethattheartificial horizonineMotion displays
the corresponding orientation.

Theartificial horizonshouldfollowsmoothlythemotionoftheeBeeX and itshould
not drift when the drone is not moving. In case of doubt, take a short video and
follow the instructions in Reportinga problem with your eBee X on page 89 for ad­vice.

Check 3: Barometric pressure sensor

The barometric pressure sensor is used to measure the altitude from the take-off
spot. To check it, follow these steps:

1. Switch the eBee X on by connecting the battery and connect to eMotion.

2. Move thedronefrom your feetto above yourhead (about2 m(7ft) altitude
variation).

3. Check the altitude shown in eMotion.

4. Move thedrone back down,from above your head to your feet(about -2 m
(-7 ft) altitude variation).

The displayed altitudeshould follow thedronemotion, i.e. if thedroneis raised by
2 m (7 ft), the altitude reading should increase by about 2 m (7 ft), then decrease
again when the drone is lowered. When the drone is not moving, the altitude
reading may slowly drift by up to ±10 m (±33 ft).

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Maintenance and repair of the eBee X

Check 4: Air speed sensor

The air speed sensor is connected to the pitot probe by a pair of tubes. To check
it, follow these steps:

1. Visually check the pitot probe. Make sure that it is properly fixed to the
airframe. The holes in the probe must be clear and free of dirt or other
small obstructions.

2. Switch the drone on by connecting the battery and connect to eMotion.

3. Very gently blow into the front opening of the pitot tube from a distance
of around 5 cm (2 in). The airflow direction should match the natural flow
experienced in flight.

4. Check the air speed displayed in eMotion.

At rest, the displayed air speed should be close to zero (it may drift up to about
2 m/s (4kts)). When blowing in the pitotprobe the airspeed indicatedin eMotion
that should easily reach values above 8 m/s (16 kts).

Check 5: Ground sensor

The ground sensor is a LiDAR sensor. The apertures must be clean and unob­structed for the sensor to work correctly.

To check it:

1. Make sure thatitisproperlyfixedin place. Visually checkthe ground sensor.
The lenses must be clear and free of dirt or other obstructions.

2. Place the drone on the ground and power it on by connecting the battery.

3. Connect the drone to eMotion.

4. Hold the drone approximately 1 m (3 ft) above the ground. Check that the
Ground sensor height in eMotion is approximately that height. If it is incor-
rect or shows only a hyphen (-), your ground sensor is faulty.

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Flying the eBee X

11.14 Cleaning the eBee X

Use a damp cloth to wipe off dirt from the eBee X’ sensor modules, wings, body,
motors and propellers.

Use the cloth,cleaning fluid andcleaning toolprovided toclean thecamera lense
and ground sensor.

Caution: Never bring the eBee X into direct contact with water; this
may damage its electronics.

11.15 Storing the eBee X

Always clean the
Whenever possible, store the eBee X in the case it was supplied in.
If youmust storethe droneoutside its case, to avoidwing deformation, store iton

a flat surface at room temperature.
Do not store the drone near a heat source, in direct sunlight or in a hot place.

Caution: As with most electronicequipment, toavoid a malfunction
due to condensation forming inside the drone, avoid powering it on
immediately after moving it from a cold to a warm environment.

before returning it to its case for storage.

eBee X

11.16 Replacing the rubber bands and propeller

11.16.1 Rubber bands

A rubber band in good condition has no cracks in it. If cracks appear, replace the
rubber bands with new ones. Always replace all three rubber bands.

We recommend regularly removing the rubber bands and inspecting them for
cracks. It is especiallyimportant toinspect thepart oftherubber bandthatpasses
under the propeller mount. This is an area where the rubber band experiences

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Maintenance and repair of the eBee X

higher forces, and cracks can be hidden there.
The rubber’s lifetimedepends onthe conditionsunder whichit hasbeen used,for

example, external temperature, exposure to UV light and the number of flights.
For this reason, although we recommend making a habit of checking the rubber
bands regularly, wealso recommendchangingthem every 6monthseven ifthere
are no apparent cracks.

11.16.2 Propeller

You should also check the propeller regularly. A propeller in good condition still
has its original overall shape. Pay special attention to the tip where wear is most
common. If any part of the propeller appears worndown, replace it.

11.17 Repairing the eBee X

Small repairs of cracks in the airframe can be done using contact glue such as
UHU® POR glue. Take careto use only contact glues thatare specifically designed
for Expanded Polypropylene (EPP). If you have doubts about the extent of the
damage, always contact a certified eBee X reseller to verify if the damage can
be easily repaired by yourself or if you need to send your drone in for repair to
senseFly.

Caution: Never fly your eBee X if it has cracks in it.

The eBee X ’ 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 procedures described in
this manual.

• Do not try and repair carbon fibre parts, for example, the wing struts.

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Flying the eBee X

• If your drone is damaged, contact senseFly or a certified eBee X reseller.

Caution: The autopilot, sensors and actuators within the Central
Body of the eBee X are specially calibrated and should only be mod­ified by your eBee X reseller. Opening the Central Body of the eBee X
will void the warranty.

11.18 Battery care and safety

Proper careof youreBee X’s battery is important topreventdamage toyour drone
and to maximise flight time. Frequent altitude changes, presence of wind, use of
old batteriesand/orfrequentphotoacquisition maysignificantlyreducetheflight
endurance. Batteries perform better at medium or high air temperature and it is
normal to observe shorter flight times in cold weather.

The eBee X is powered by a LiHV (High Voltage Lithium Polymer) battery com­posed of four cells connected in series. It has an empty battery voltage of 15.2 V
and a fully-charged battery voltage of 17.4 V. A well-balanced and healthy bat­tery should have all cells ata voltage very close to eachother. Yourbattery’s total
voltage is shown in eMotion when the drone is connected.

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.

• Always charge eBee X batteries using the supplied cable. Do not use the
eBee X charging cable to charge any other batteries.

• Always connect the battery to the charger with the correct polarity.

• Alwaysconnectboth thecharging cableandbalancingcabletothecharger.

• Never leave the charger unattended while charging.

• Use thecharger ina well-ventilated area, awayfrom electricallyconductive
and flammable materials.

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Maintenance and repair of the eBee X

• The charger may become hot during use. Take care when handling it.

• If the battery or the charger behaves unexpectedly during charging (for
example, overheating, smoking, melting,leaking, etc)immediatelydiscon­nect the mains and store the battery and charger in a safe location.

• Keep the charger away from dust, moisture, rain, heat sources, direct sun­light and vibration. Never drop the charger.

• Only power the charger with the specified operating voltages.

• Place the charger and battery on a heat-resistant, non-flammable, non­conductive surface. Never place them on an upholstered surface such as
a car seat or carpet.

• Keep allinflammable liquids andmaterials awayfromthebatteryandcharger.

If the charger detects a charging voltage outside of the allowable range it will
sound an alarm. Carry out the following procedure:

1. Check that the charging cable is properly connected with the correct po­larity.

2. Check that the balancing cable is properly connected. If it is not, unplug
the charger from the mains, reconnect the balancing cable then plug the
charger back in.

3. If thealarmcontinuestosound,thebatteryhasdevelopedafaultand should
be discarded.

Caution: The batteries delivered with your drone are designed to
be charged only with approved senseFly chargers. senseFly cannot
be held responsible for any consequences resulting from using any
other charger. In particular, using a charger improperly configured
or designed for other types of batteries may lead the battery to be
permanently damaged or to catch fire.

86

Flying the eBee X

LiHV batteries do not exhibit any memory effect. You do not need to fully dis­charge them before charging them again. Recharging them when only partially
discharged does not reduce their total charge, damage the battery or shorten its
useful life.

When not usingthe batterystore itin the carryingcase providedwith yourdrone.
Avoidleaving thebattery indirect sunlight. Don’tstore afully-charged battery for
more than two weeks. Batteries should be stored charged to about 70%.

Caution: If any of the cells of your battery pack have been overly
discharged the battery may be irreversibly damaged and dangerous
to charge. If the battery swells beyond its regular size or if any of the
cells arepunctured it isalso likelydamaged and shouldbe discarded.
Forcefully charginga damaged battery may cause it to catch fire. Do

not attempt to charge an over-discharged or damaged battery.
Dispose of the battery safely.

Maximising safety and battery lifetime

If treated well, your eBee X’s batteries have the potential to last for many cycles
(charging then discharging).

As a general rule, the lower you push the battery charge during your flights, the
shorter the lifetime of the battery will be.

In addition, flying with low battery isn’t safe. At lower battery charge levels, less
poweris available forthemotors togeneratethrust. Unexpected windconditions,
the arrival ofpeople or thearrival ofan obstacle inthe landing zonecan force you
to hold,abort the landing andclimb,manoeuvre or counter the wind,all of which
require battery power.

For trouble-free flight and long battery life:

• Land your drone well before the battery runs out. Thanks to their smart­battery technology, thelowendurancesafetyaction(whichbringsthedrone
to Home)isbased onaccuratebattery capacity. Leaving thelowendurance

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Maintenance and repair of the eBee X

safety action on is recommeded to optimise flight time and safety²². Con­sider taking the drone to its landing spot before the low endurance Warn­ing if you judge that to be necessary.

• Minimise the number of times you allow the battery charge todrop below
10%.

• Avoid taking the battery down to 0% charge. This can greatly reduce bat­tery lifetime and reliability.

Deep discharge

eBee X batteries’ 4 cells must remain balanced and stay above a minimum volt­age. Following a deep discharge —one or more of the cells are pushed below

2.5 V —they become damaged, affecting the reliability of the battery. If this has
happened to a battery, it will be no longer possible to charge that battery.

Gradual discharge when not in use

Even when the battery is not in use, it will continue to gradually discharge (be­tween 2 and 6% per month). Eventually, the battery could enter a state of deep
discharge.

To avoid this:

• After flying, do not leave the battery in a low-charge condition for a long
time. Recharge the battery as soon as possible.

• When batteries are in storage, check the battery level every 3 months and
recharge to 70% when necessary.

²² see your eMotion user manual

88

Flying the eBee X

11.19 Locating a lost eBee X 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! If it is simply out of commu­nication range the drone should reconnect automatically as it returns to
Home after completing its mission.

2. Note thelast knownlocation ofthe drone in eMotionby printingthe screen
or writing down the coordinates displayed in eMotion.

3. Movetowardsthislastknowndirectionwith thecomputer runningeMotion
in the hope of regaining a connection.

4. Try moving downwind from the last known location in case the drone was
pushed by the wind while still in the air.

5. Contact your eBee X support provider as soon as possible and send them
the corresponding eMotion flight log²³; it can help to retrace the drone’s
trajectory.

You can write your address and phone number on your eBee X, for example, put
your business card on top of the battery (but not the camera) in case it gets lost
and subsequently found by a third party.

11.20 Reporting a problem with your eBee X

If there is a problem with your eBee X, 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 eMotion, begin by checking your
eMotion user manual to see if there is a solution to the particular message.

²³ see the eMotion user manual

89

Maintenance and repair of the eBee X

2. Check our Knowledge Base, part of my.senseFly²⁴, to see if there is a solu­tion to your problem.

3. If you have still notfound a solution, contact your eBeeX support provider.
Please include the following information with your inquiry:

• The serial number of your drone, in the format AB-XX-XXX. You can
find this number inside the battery enclosure. Please include this se­rial number in the subject line of your message.

• A detailed description of the problem, including:

– any eMotion error messages
– eMotion screenshots where possible and relevant
– details of any troubleshooting or tests you have carried out

• The flight logs from the drone (.bbz and .bb3) for the flight that had
a problem²⁵.

• If the drone’s flight logs cannot be copied off the drone, the logs on
the camera’s SD card in the LOGS folder.

• The eMotion Flight Log (_em.bb3) 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.

• Photos or video of the eBee X airframe, if required.

Note: In order to provide support, senseFly may request the flight
log files for inspection.

²⁴ http://my.sensefly.com
²⁵ see your eMotion user manual for instructions on retrieving this file from the eBee X

90

Maintenance and inspection log

Date A/C model S/N Hours General/Full Maintenance activity Inspected by

Part III

Specifications

Drone

Wingspan 116 cm (45.7 in)

Nominal take-off weight 1.1 kg (2.4 lbs) approx.

Maximum take-off weight 1.7 kg (3.7 lbs)

Propulsion

Low-noise, electric brushless motor

Compatible sensors S.O.D.A. 3D, Aeria X, Duet T, Parrot Sequoia+,

S.O.D.A., S.O.D.A. Corridor, RedEdge-MX

Material EPP foam, carbon structure & composite parts

Standard battery 4-cell 3700 mAh LiHV (0.3 kg (0.7 lbs))

Endurance battery 4-cell 4900 mAh LiHV (0.4 kg (0.9 lbs))

Battery consumption 15.2 V DC, 3.7/4.9 A

Nominal endurance²⁶ up to 59 minutes

(flight time) (with standard battery)

Extended endurance²⁶ up to 90 minutes

(flight time) (with endurance extension)

Landing Linear landing at 20°

Steep landing at 35°

Cruise speed 40-110 km/h (11-30 m/s, 25-68 mph)

Wind resistance up to 46.0 km/h (12.8 m/s, 24.9 kts)

Operating temperature -15 to 35 °C (5 to 95 °F)

Navigation Up to 500 waypoints

Carry case dimensions 75 x 51 x 33 cm (29.5 x 20.1 x 13.0 in)

²⁶ endurance can vary greatly depending on external factors such as wind, altitude change and tem-

perature.

Communication devices

Ground modem

Frequency 2.4 GHz

Nominal range²⁷ approx. 3 km (2 mi)

Maximum working range²⁷ approx. 8 km (5 mi)

Certification FCC, IC, CE, JP

²⁷ can vary greatly depending on external factors such as cruise altitude, presence of obstacles and

radio-frequency interference.

Glossary

ATO Above the Take-off Altitude

Your eBee X’s altitude can be shownand setin eMotion using ATO.Altitudes
in ATO are relative to the place your eBee X started its motor just before
take-off.

GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

A network of satellites that transmit signals that GNSS receivers can use to
calculate their position on the Earth. GPS (Global Positioning System) and
GLONASS are examples of GNSS systems.

GPU Graphics Processing Unit

A computer component, often a chip on a computer’s graphics card, that
specialises inprocessing imagesandcomputer graphics. Computer perfor­mance can be improved by taking image processing off the CPU and onto
the GPU.

http://my.sensefly.com