SenseFly

Product Description

SenseFly eBee Classic is a drone used to capture high-resolution aerial photos. It is fully autonomous, lightweight (700 g/1.5 lb) and contains an RGB camera, batteries, radio modem and eMotion software. Image processing software is optional.

The product is commercialized and widely used in agriculture, environmental monitoring, surveying & mapping and humanitarian activities such as emergency response and aid distribution.

Target SDGs

SDG 2: Zero Hunger

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Target Users (Target Impact Group)

Public Sector Agencies, NGOs

Distributors / Implementing Organizations

Several distributors worldwide, for example most of Africa is served by the South African company Optron Ltd where one can request a demo/introduction, or Aimil Ltd in India. A list of nearest distributors per country is available at their website.

Competitive Landscape

Direct competitors include AgEagle RX40 and Skyfish M6 UAV.

Manufacturing/Building Method

The company is a commercial drone subsidiary of Parrot Group. It manufactures drone hardware and eMotion software complementing all its drone products including eBee Classic.

Intellectural Property Type

Trademark

User Provision Model

Authorized distributors

Distributions to Date Status

Unknown

Design Specifications

Sensefly eBee features a hand launch, so that no catapult is required, and a rear-facing propeller for additional safety. The 2.4 GHz radio link communicates with eMotion via USB ground modem. The communication link has approximately 3 km range. Onboard artificial intelligence analyzes inertial measurements and GPS data to optimize the flight.

Product Schematics

Technical Support

Authorized service centers

Replacement Components

Battery

Lifecycle

12 months warranty or optional 24 months, with up to two non-warranty drone replacements, six battery replacements and other consumables, and two free 100-hour maintenance services

Manufacturer Specified Performance Parameters

Absolute horizontal/vertical accuracy (w/GCPs): Down to 3 cm (1.2 in)/5 cm (2 in)

Absolute horizontal/vertical accuracy (no GCPs): 1-5 m (3-16 ft)

Nominal coverage at 120 m (400 ft): 140 ha (~350 ac)

Max. coverage at 2,000 m (6,500 ft): 9.3 km2 (3.6 mi2)

Ground sampling distance: Down to 1.5 cm (0.6 in)/pixel

Vetted Performance Status

A human impact test showed that the eBee drones have an impact of 8.75 J. An accuracy assessment showed the eBee RTK can achieve 3 cm horizontal and 5 cm vertical accuracy.

Safety

Unknown

Complementary Technical Systems

Flight planning & control software (supplied) eMotion Image processing software (optional) Pix4Dmapper Pro

Academic Research and References

Roze, A., Zufferey, J.C., Beyeler, A. and McClellan, A., 2014, eBee RTK Accuracy Assessment, White Paper Sense Fly.

Fornace, K.M., Drakeley, C.J., William, T., Espino, F. and Cox, J., 2014, Mapping Infectious Disease Landscapes: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Epidemiology, Trends in Parasitology, 30(11), pp. 514-519.

Dvo?ák, P., Müllerová, J., Bartaloš, T. and Br?na, J., 2015, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Alien Plant Species Detection and Monitoring, International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing & Spatial Information Sciences, 40.

Drummond, Christopher D., Drummond, C., Harley, M., Turner, I., Matheen A., Nashwan A. and Glamore, W., 2015, UAV Applications to Coastal Engineering, Australasian Coasts & Ports Conference 2015: 22nd Australasian Coastal and Ocean Engineering Conference and the 15th Australasian Port and Harbour Conference.

Chianucci, F., Disperati, L., Guzzi, D., Bianchini, D., Nardinoc, V., Lastri, C., Rindinella, A. and Corona, P., 2016, Estimation of Canopy Attributes in Beech Forests Using True Colour Digital Images from a Small Fixed-Wing UAV, International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 47 , pp. 60-68.

Seymour, A. C., Dale J., Hammill M., Halpin P. N. and Johnston D. W., 2017, Automated Detection and Enumeration of Marine Wildlife Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Thermal Imagery, Scientific Reports, 7, p. 45127.

Compliance with regulations

Transport Canada: SenseFly's entire platform of professional drone solutions—eBee Classic, eBee SQ and eBee X—complies with the latest Transport Canada regulations for advanced drone operations in controlled airspace. Beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) regulatory requirements were satisfied in France, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, Canada and China. Brazil’s Civil Aviation Authority approved SenseFly Drones for country’s Beyond Visual-Line-Of-Sight (BVLOS) operations.

Evaluation methods

Whitepapers Evaluated for accuracy and precision

Other Information

None