senseFly Announces the eBee RTK Mapping Drone

from directionsmag.com

Swiss mini-drone manufacturer senseFly announces the eBee RTK, the only fully integrated, fully compatible survey-grade mapping system on the market.

The eBee RTK, available in Q3, 2014, will offer surveying and engineering professionals a highly accurate and flexible mapping solution that works alongside their existing base stations and does not require any third-party software.

“This new survey-grade version of the eBee is the missing link our customers have been waiting for,” says Jean-Christophe Zufferey, C.E.O. of senseFly. “The eBee RTK offers surveying and engineering professionals the very highest positional accuracy, without the need for ground control points. It is compatible with customers’ existing base stations, and each mission’s entire workflow – including the transmission of GNSS corrections to the drone – is integrated within the system’s software.”

3 reasons to choose the eBee RTK

1. Survey-grade accuracy
Absolute orthomosaic / Digital Elevation Model accuracy of down to 3 cm (1.2 in) without the need for GCPs – meaning less time spent in the field and high precision in even the most inaccessible areas.

2. Fully integrated workflow
The eBee RTK’s supplied flight planning & control software (eMotion 2) connects to the base station and broadcasts correction data to the rover (eBee RTK) – no additional logger or third-party software required.

3. Compatible with existing base stations
The eBee RTK is compatible with most leading brands of base station, working seamlessly alongside a surveyor’s existing portfolio of instruments.

The Bee RTK features an integrated GNSS receiver with RTK functionality. It flies, acquires images and lands autonomously. Plus the entire eBee RTK aircraft weighsjust 0.7 kg (1.5 lbs) – minimising its power usage (optimising the drone’s flight time), allowing the drone to be hand launched (no accessories required), and ensuring the safety of people and objects on the ground.

The eBee RTK is supplied as standard with two software packages: eMotion 2 flight planning and control software; and Postflight Terra 3D professional photogrammetry software (powered by Pix4D).

With its maximum flight time of 40 minutes, the eBee RTK can photograph areas of up to 10 km2(3.9 mi2) in a single flight. Its 16 MP still camera is capable of shooting aerial imagery at down to 2 cm (0.7 in) / pixel resolution. Once imported into Postflight Terra 3D, these images can be used to generate orthomosaics with accuracy of down to 3 cm (1.18 in) and digital elevation models of down to 5 cm (1.96 in).

3 ways of working with the eBee RTK

The eBee RTK can be used in either of three different ways to suit a particular user’s preference and access to in-country correction data networks:

• Real Time Kinematic (positioning the base station on a known position)
• Virtual base station (requires internet connection & VRS/Ntrip network subscription)
• Post processing (on-site or in the office later)

Availability: The eBee RTK is available to pre-order immediately, either from senseFly direct or our network of approved resellers (see http://www.senseFly.com/about/where-to-buy.html) with shipping expected in Q3, 2014.

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