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Heliceo Fox6 User Manual

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Summary of Contents for Heliceo Fox6

  • Page 1 V1.1...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    6. Battery............................. 22 Power consumption and autonomy.................. 22 Use of the battery and battery charger ................22 Battery warning notification ....................26 7. Switch the Fox6 ON ....................... 29 8. Calibrations ..........................30 Compass ..........................30 Overview ......................... 30 Calibration procedure ....................31 Calibration backup .......................
  • Page 3 Battery .......................... 67 Remote Control......................67 EKF error ........................68 Pilot control ........................68 17. Warranty ..........................70 18. Appendix 1: Canon Ixus 160 camera (option) ..............71 Ixus 160 installation on Fox6 ..................71 Ixus 160 datasheet ......................72 V1.1...

  • Page 4: Disclaimers

    Our number one priority is your satisfaction with our products. Please take the time to review the manual and let us know if you require any assistance in configuration or operation of the Fox6. We truly hope you will appreciate and enjoy the Fox6 and its unique navigation experience, as much as we do.

  • Page 5: Revision History

    Sony Alpha6000 F6-OPT-PL01-1.0 Drone Box RTK DB-BOXRTK Battery tester STD-ELEC-TES-TENLIPO Battery 16000mAh / 4S STD-BAT-4S-16000 Battery charger (DYN 4300) STD-BAT-CHA-DYN4300 Battery charger – cable for Fox6 STD-BAT-CAB-CHAR-F6 Battery charge power supply cable STD-BAT-CAB-DYN4012 Standard tool kit STD-TOOLKIT Radio control STD-RC-TARX9D V1.1...

  • Page 6: Fox6 Setup

    Fox6 setup Please start with this view: this is the fully setup Fox6, ready to operate. The Fox 6 is delivered in a travel configuration. Follow these steps to prepare the multirotor for flight. V1.1...
  • Page 7 Arms and feet: Clip and unclip the travel position arms in the flight position. Make sure that each arm is inserted into the clip. Repeat the same procedure with the foldable feet of the drone. Be careful not to twist the arms when handling them. V1.1...
  • Page 8 (black color) until it stops and do the same for the anti-clockwise propellers (silver color). • Screw the telemetry antenna to the Drone Box and connect the Box to the Fox6. The procedure to upload the Fox6 firmware is described below, in the next chapter.

  • Page 9: Drone Initializing

    Screw the telemetry Plug the Drone Box Rotate the protection clip antenna. Drone Initializing • Place the drone on the TAKE_OFF area • Make sure the Fox 6 is as horizontal as possible • After power on, do not move the drone until DroneBox LED blinks green. If these recommendations are not followed, the Drone Box may fail to initialize or messages such as “BAD Compass Health, BAD Accel Health or BAD Gyro Health”...

  • Page 10: Drone Box Setup

    4. Drone Box setup Firmware check To perform the following action, the Drone Box needs to be disconnected from the Fox6. Verify the Drone Box firmware: • Connect the Drone Box to the tablet /PC, using a USB cable /telemetry and launch the software «...

  • Page 11: Upload The Firmware

    Upload the firmware In case the detected firmware is not a Fox6 firmware (or is an obsolete Fox6 version), please follow the procedure below: • Connect the Drone Box to the PC, using a USB cable and launch the software «...

  • Page 12: Upload The Vector Parameters

    • Select the parameters file corresponding to the vector (Fox6.param)(5) • Verify that the « Frame » corresponds to the vector: Fox6 (6) • Upload the vector parameters in the Drone Box by clicking on « Write Params » (7)
  • Page 13 V1.1...

  • Page 14: Use Of The Radio Control

    RC. To avoid any problem, remember to always power on the remote control before power on the Fox6. The procedure avoids to trigger a failsafe (RTL) and then the parachute. Fox6 controls Control the Fox6 manually using the RC.

  • Page 15: Mode 1 - Throttle At Right Handle And Pitch At Left Handle

    Throttle: Move the right joystick forward and back to control altitude and acceleration. Yaw: Move the left joystick horizontally to rotate and control the orientation. Navigate by orienting the Fox6 with the sensor forward and the parachute backwards. Pitch: Move the left joystick vertically to fly forward and backward...
  • Page 16 counterclockwise rotation, turning on itself RIGHT ROLL Moving right, horizontal flight to the right LEFT ROLL Moving left, horizontal flight to the left FORWARD PITCH Horizontal forward displacement of the drone BACKWARD PITCH Horizontal backward displacement of the drone CENTER ROLL AND PITCH Straight flight stabilized...

  • Page 17: Mode 2 - Throttle At Left Handle And Pitch At Right Handle

    Throttle: Move the left joystick forward and back to control altitude and acceleration. Yaw: Move the left joystick horizontally to rotate and control the orientation. Navigate by orienting the Fox6 with the sensor forward and the parachute backwards. Pitch: Move the right joystick vertically to fly forward and backward...
  • Page 18 COUNTERCLOCKWISE ROATION Retention of the right yaw: drone makes counterclockwise rotation, turning on itself RIGHT ROLL Moving right, horizontal flight to the right LEFT ROLL Moving left, horizontal flight to the left FORWARD PITCH Horizontal forward displacement of the drone BACKWARD PITCH Horizontal backward...

  • Page 19: Flight Modes

    • Return To Launch (RTL) – Recall and landing : Enable RTL during the mission to terminate your flight automatically. RTL commands the Fox6 to go down at a minimum altitude of 15 meters, return to the launch point, glide for five seconds,...

  • Page 20: Other Commands

    Use the right joystick to adjust the position of the Fox6 during landing. After landing, the Fox6 will automatically disarm after a few seconds. Other commands RTL - Automatic return to « home point » : Tilt the SA control towards you to manually trigger the automatic return of the aircraft to its take-off point.
  • Page 21 Gimbal pitch control Use the left side tilt to change the gimbal pitch. Upper position corresponds to Zenith orientation, lower position to Nadir. V1.1...

  • Page 22: Battery

    The « LIPO » 4S battery voltage must stay between 16.8 volts (fully charged) and 14 volts (fully discharged). Before, and during the flight, please check the value. It is recommended to adapt the Fox6 speed according to the foreseen crossing distance of the mission, and to the wind speed.
  • Page 23 Connect the white connector to the 4S port. Connect the red and black connectors to the battery. Fix the battery inside the protection bag as shown below. 2. Adjust the charger parameters as below with the touch screen: Select the « LIPO » program with the left and right arrows Select the correct cell number for the battery (4S) by selecting «...
  • Page 24 Select the correct capacity for the battery (16000 mAh) by selecting « Capacity » item and using up and down arrows Select the correct charge current for battery (maximum 16A) selecting « Current » item and using up and down arrows Press and hold the «...
  • Page 25 Lithium Polymer batteries are charging and discharging quickly, but are sensible to fire. Please follow the instructions below : Before charging /discharging >Only use batteries in good condition. >Inspect the battery for any damage, swelling, perforation, fluid leak... >Do not use a battery that felt, or hit an obstacle. >Inspect the voltage for each battery cell, before and after the mission.

  • Page 26: Battery Warning Notification

    Battery warning notification You can set in mission planner a battery level warning. To setup, go to the « INITIAL SETUP » view, « Optional Hardware » and «Battery Monitor » menus as shown below when connected to the Drone Box: Then click on «...
  • Page 27 Thus, when correctly setup and connected to the Fox6, in the « FLIGHT DATA » view, the battery information in the UAV window is white when battery voltage is over 14,5 volts, and become red when under this threshold as below:...
  • Page 28 V1.1...

  • Page 29: Switch The Fox6 On

    3- Attach the battery in the specific battery compartment. Connect the black power cable (-) and then the red power cable (+). The 6 starts beeping. An automatic electronic check will be progressing (with different color phases). Note that Fox6 and FoxBathy batteries are exchangeable. V1.1...

  • Page 30: Calibrations

    It is important to switch ON the Drone Box, few minutes before the mission, in order to get in connection with all satellites (GPS & Glonass). Always switch ON the RC before connecting the battery. When the Fox6 is switched OFF, disconnect the battery, before switching OFF the RC.

  • Page 31: Calibration Procedure

    Calibration procedure Connect the Drone Box to the drone, and connect the Drone Box to the PC via telemetry: • Launch the software « Mission Planner » • In the view « Initial Setup» (1) => Mandatory Hardware (2)=> Compass (3) => Click on «...
  • Page 32 • Make a loop turning forward (looping) • A 3D circle shall be drawn as shown on the image above. • Once the North heading loop is completed, turn the Drone Box to the East and execute the same rotation, but this time turning sideward. V1.1...
  • Page 33 • 2 circles must appear as shown above. Click on « Done » • In the next steps, 2 messages will appear: the messages correspond to the internal (compass #1) and external (compass #2) values. Verify that the values for compass #1 are comprised between -150 and +150.

  • Page 34: Calibration Backup

    Parameters ». Overview The initial accelerometers calibration is achieved by HELICEO. Nevertheless, it could be necessary to redo the calibration. Be aware that this operation is seldom. A new calibration is necessary, when the blue and red crosses are differently positioned in shift and /or rotation, while the Drone Box is put at the horizontal (see below).

  • Page 35: Calibration Procedure

    Good, no calibration required Calibration procedure Plug the Drone Box to the Fox6, and connect the Drone Box to a PC with a USB cable (follow procedure as described in previous chapters): • Launch the software « Mission Planner »...
  • Page 36 • Put the drone horizontally, on a flat surface, and click on « Click when Done »as shown below • Lean the drone to its left side and click on « Click when Done » as shown below • Lean the drone ton its right side and click on « Click when Done » as shown below •...
  • Page 37 • Lean the drone nose up and click on « Click when Done » as shown below. • Lean the drone to its back and click on « Click when Done » as shown below. • Click on « Calibrate Accel » •...

  • Page 38: Ekf Check

    EKF Check After each calibration and before each flight, the pilot must check EKF values, specially the compass. Connect your Fox 6 to Mission Planner, on dashboard, please click “EKF” like shown in the picture below. Then, the following menu will display. Afterwards, hold the Fox 6 parallel to the ground and perform slowly a complete circle.

  • Page 39: Sony Alpha6000 Camera

    9. Sony Alpha6000 camera The Sony Alpha 6000 camera equips the Fox6 in the standard version. Check the Sony Alpha 6000 working capacity before each mission. Charging Sony Alpha 6000 has its own battery, so to charge it, use the appropriate charger provided, and connect the cable to the camera body.

  • Page 40: Camera Setting

    Camera setting Menu setting Please reproduce the menus pages of the following images. V1.1...

  • Page 41: Photo Setting

    Then use some tape to fix the focus. Camera installation on Fox6 When the camera is correctly settled, fix it on the gimbal. Place the camera top facing forward and use the gimbal screw to block it (1)

  • Page 42: Navigation Plan Setup

    Mission Planner allows to transform a Windows PC into a Ground Control Station (GCS), in order to configure and follow the Fox6 autonomous missions. The PC is required on the acquisition site during the mission. Mission Planner can be downloaded from the Hélicéo cloud: http://cloud.heliceo.com/heliceo_cloud/download/...
  • Page 43 If Mission Planner is already installed, please don’t update it without the Hélicéo support suggestion. V1.1...

  • Page 44: Connection Of The Ground Control Station (Gcs) To The Radio Antenna (Ra)

    Be aware that to establish connection between the PC and the Drone Box with a USB cable, e.g. to download the acquisition data, the rate will be different, and fixed at 115200. 3-Select the « Flight data » view to display the live Fox6 data. V1.1...

  • Page 45: Automatic Mission Planning

    11. Automatic mission planning Mission Planner allows to make an autonomous mission in a fully automated mode. Existing maps loading Mission Planner allows to plan a mission at the office. We recommend to plan the mission in live, when located on the Area of Interest (AOI). It is important to evaluate or check the environmental conditions, just before launching the mission.
  • Page 46 2- Right click on the map, select « Map Tool » in the scrolling menu, and « Prefetch ». Accept the default values. Mission Planner will download the maps of the selected location on the PC. Mission Planner will try to download the map data from the current zoom, up to the most precise zoom resolution.

  • Page 47: Define The Area Of Interest (Aoi) Polygon

    resolution levels may require hours! The zoom resolutions levels are indexed from 0 to 25. Press ESC to skip the undesired zoom. Define the Area Of Interest (AOI) polygon Select the « Flight Plan » view and zoom on the AOI... - Right click on the map and select «...
  • Page 48 Accept the popup message: 3- Restart point 1 to add as many polygon points as needed. Click on the created points, maintain the pressure, and shift the polygon corners where necessary. V1.1...
  • Page 49 « » « » 4- Right click on the polygon. Select Auto WP Survey (Grid) to open the surveying tool. Units: the drone uses metric values. If Mission Planner uses other values, change the parameters in order to use the metric system in the mission planning. V1.1...

  • Page 50: Configure The Navigation Plan

    Configure the navigation plan The last action open a new window to configure the flight plan. The following mandatories must be respected : Flight time under 18 minutes (for a new battery) Time between each photo > 2 second We recommend 80% /60% as overlap /sidelap. Check the 2 first mandatories in the “Stats”...

  • Page 51: Simple Panel

    Simple panel: 1. Choose the right camera. Here Sony Alpha 6000. 2. Choose the flight altitude Above Ground Level (AGL) regarding the desired ground resolution or Ground Sampling Distance (GSD). 3. Check “camera top facing forward”. 4. Choose the right speed in respect of the inter-photo time. 5.

  • Page 52: Grid Options Panel

    Grid Options panel: 1. Recommendation: overlap 80% 2. Recommendation: sidelap 60% to 80% 3. Recommendation: Delay at WP 0 V1.1...

  • Page 53: Camera Configuration Panel

    Camera Configuration panel: 1. In case the calibration of the camera is not in the Mission Planner database, it is possible to type in the sensor dimensions (focal length, width in pixel and mm and height in pixel and mm). The Sony Alpha 6000 sold by Hélicéo has the following parameters: a.
  • Page 54 Then accept the plan: Mission results can be found in the waypoints window. V1.1...

  • Page 55: Save And Load A Mission Plan

    Save and load a mission plan Before saving the survey plan, verify that the mission plan is compliant with the working parameters. Mission plan may be saved in a file, from the survey tool window with CTRL-S. At the opposite, a mission plan may be reloaded from a saved file with CTRL-O. In the same way, mission Way Points instructions may be saved in a file by clicking on «...

  • Page 56: Mission Planner Dashboard

    In the Mission Planner software, when connected (with telemetry or via USB), to the Fox6, it is possible to monitor, in real time, the drone data in the « Flight data» view, in the « quick view» as shown below.

  • Page 57: Setup

    Setup Choose six preferred data to be monitored in real time. To change a data field, double click on it. The table below appears. Choose the new field to display (e.g. the current altitude). Preferred six values : • alt (current altitude) •...

  • Page 58: Acquisition Survey

    2 seconds. The LED color should turn to RED steady • The Fox6 is now ready to fly: use the Radio Controller to ARM /DISARM the Fox6 as explained earlier in the chapter “Fox6 arming and disarming”. After the mission, disarm the Fox6 by pressing the safety button on the top of the Drone Box again.

  • Page 59: Manual - Automatic Mission

    SF button: Idle position: run forward High position: run backward Position the Fox6 to a safe location for Take Off, and start the automatic navigation (SE button in middle or high position). To stop the automatic mode, in case of emergency, or when the survey mission is completed, switch to manual mode…Automatic Return to Launch can be...

  • Page 60: Parachute Option

    14. Parachute option 14.1. Opale “mechanical” parachute It is important that the parachute is well conditioned to ensure, at its next extraction, quick and efficient opening. First, spread out the parachute, making sure that no line hangs over another line. Perform some pre-inflations.
  • Page 61 Fold the left panels in the direction of the length, then the right panels as in the pictures below. The folded panels are now obtained in the length, the next step is to fold the remainder to the size of the Pod. The folding must be done in 3 layers. The trailing edge of the parachute must be positioned at the opening flap of the container.
  • Page 62 Grasp the black elastic buckle to close the Pod, as shown below. Once the shutter is closed, pass 3 to 4 lines to lock the opening. V1.1...
  • Page 63 Remember to check regularly that the container is locked. Do not hesitate to ventilate and refold the parachute if it is stored in a humid environment. Pass the straps on the side of the ejection system so that the ejection system does not interfere with the opening of the device.

  • Page 64: Galaxy "Pyrotechnical" Parachute

    14.2. Galaxy “pyrotechnical” Parachute If the Fox6 is equipped with the pyrotechnical parachute, please refer to the specific user manual, to use it properly. 15. Datasheets 15.1. Drone Box Drone Box features Drone Box Slim Drone Box RTK Hardware Material...
  • Page 65 Navigation Autopilot, Autopilot, management navigation navigation planning planning Communication GNSS Nav board, GNSS Centimetric management IMU, time Board, IMU, time synchronization, synchronization, camera, camera, others… others… Data logging On-board autopilot, On-board autopilot, telemetry, GNSS, telemetry, GNSS, V1.1...

  • Page 66: Fox6

    15.2. Fox6 Fox6 key features 6 rotors redundand flight control and propulsion Centimeter grade GSD imagery resolution GCP free RTK accuracy with Drone Box RTK Versatile choice of payloads and sensors Very short set-up time Operation features Technical data Drone Multirotor /6 carbon blades Take Off &...

  • Page 67: Sony Alpha 6000 Camera (Standard)

    GNSS processing HASK - Geoprocessor Firmware Loader HASK – Tool Box Sony Alpha 6000 camera (standard) Camera features Technical data Camera type Hybrid APS-C Focal lenght 16 mm Frame 6000 x 4000 pixels Image weight 24 MPix Pixel size 3,9 µm Air temperature range 0°C to +45°C 16.

  • Page 68: Ekf Error

    If the landing area is not clean, take control of the Fox6 in AltHold or STABILIZE mode and land at a clean area. When the fox6 is on the ground disarm the motors by pushing the left stick to the left.
  • Page 69 Change mode to LOITER, manual flight to vertical of the takeoff then land. When landing is complete, disarm the motor (left stick to the left). Change mode AltHold STABILIZE, manual flight to vertical of the takeoff then land. When landing is complete, disarm the motor (left stick to the left).

  • Page 70: Warranty

    10 m more pyrotechnical parachute 17. Warranty The Fox6 components and accessories (excluding the batteries) are covered by a warranty of 1 year. Return costs to our office, export delivery taxes at your expenses. V1.1...

  • Page 71: Appendix 1: Canon Ixus 160 Camera (Option)

    18. Appendix 1: Canon Ixus 160 camera (option) Ixus 160 installation on Fox6 The camera must be screwed on the gimbal, facing forward, as shown below. Then connect the gimbal micro USB cable to the camera V1.1...

  • Page 72: Ixus 160 Datasheet

    And insert the free HDMI connector in the protection hole, at the foot of the camera. Switch the Ixus 160 ON. The camera is ready to use. Ixus 160 datasheet Camera features Technical data Camera type 1 /2.3 CCD camera Focal lenght 5 mm Frame...
  • Page 73 V1.1...

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