As part of the global introduction of its new Anafi Ai 4G LTE-connected drone, the Parrot brand has announced an early access program for operators. The program enables professional drone users performing missions for commercial or public-safety activities to be among a select group of first users of the robotic UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle). Program participants are being asked to provide feedback to Parrot that will contribute to the drone’s development.

The offer is aimed at professionals from inspection, construction, infrastructure, energy utilities, public safety, surveying, agriculture, and defense organizations. The selected early-access users will get an Anafi Ai for two months with a dedicated communication link to Parrot, which is looking for datasets, photogrammetry 3D models, flight logs, and user feedback.

The Anafi Ai offers the capability to inspect buildings with strong 4G connectivity during built-up urban missions. For instance, the drone can map long-distance electric power lines in 48 MP at 1 frame/s. It can also quickly generate 3D models of buildings just by clicking on its land register in the new FreeFlight 7 app.

 

Open-source ecosystem

Founded in 1994 by CEO Henri Seydoux, Parrot says it is the leading European group in the fast-growing industry of drones. The Parrot Group, headquartered in Paris, designs and engineers its products in Europe, mainly in France and Switzerland.

The company pitches itself at the forefront of innovation and the only group to be positioned across the entire value chain, from equipment to services and software. It is the world’s number two consumer drone maker behind DJI.

Originally the pioneer of consumer drones a decade ago, Parrot now seeks to set new standards for drones at work. It focused primarily on the three markets of agriculture; 3D mapping, surveying, and inspection; and defense and security. It currently employs over 500 people worldwide and sells a majority of its products outside of France.

Since the first Parrot A.R. Drone in 2010, Parrot has pursued an open-source philosophy for its platforms and contributed to the open-source community. With the launch of Anafi Ai, Parrot expands its Software Development Kit (SDK) by open sourcing the 7th version of its FreeFlight ground control station application.

The company has built an impressive partner software ecosystem, from enterprise drone platforms like Skyward, a Verizon company, and Measure, an AgEagle company, to flight logs services from DroneLogbook and Airdata. Its solutions interface with public safety programs from DroneSense and advanced mission planning solutions from QGroundControl and UgCS. Also part of the ecosystem are media and data cloud platforms like Survae, real-time geospatial situational awareness such as Rapid Imaging and Textron Systems, and surveying and mapping like PIX4D.

 

4G connectivity and cybersecurity

Announced in late June, Parrot says the Anafi Ai is the first 4G connected professional drone on the market, offering users higher productivity without transmission limitations. The company has combined this connectivity with advanced artificial intelligence for autonomous capabilities and best-in-class imaging and photogrammetry accuracy bring a powerful new tool to professionals.

Already widely and reliably deployed around the world, 4G offers long-range transmission at low-frequency bands from 700 to 900 MHz. Because many 4G operators offer quality-of-service guarantees for first responders such as firefighters and police, Parrot has worked hard to develop a powerful streaming software adapted to any 4G situation. It has engineered its software to quickly optimize the definition and frame rate to network quality and make it robust to packet and frame losses.

Thanks to the 4G connectivity, Anafi Ai users will no longer experience transmission limitations, which enables precise control at a distance. For BLVOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) flights, the drone stays connected. Its obstacle-avoidance system works in all directions using stereo cameras to sense objects and automatically avoid them.

Along with connectivity comes an added cybersecurity risk, so for the first time, a security element is embedded in the drone’s Skycontroller 4, with the 4G link between the drone and the user’s phone encrypted. It protects the integrity of the software and the privacy of data transferred.

The WISeKey secure element is NIST FIPS140-2 Level 3 compliant and Common Criteria EAL5+ certified. It performs cryptographic operations, stores and protects sensitive information, protects the integrity of the embedded software, provides a unique identity to the drone for 4G pairing and strong authentication, and features a unique digital signing of the pictures taken by the drone.

Users have full control over their data, and none is shared without their express consent. The drone is compliant with the European Union General Data Protection Regulation and, in some cases, goes even further. For example, users can delete all data with one click.

A bug bounty program is currently running in partnership with YesWeHack, the first European crowdsourced security platform. Parrot benefits from the organization’s vast community of cybersecurity researchers to identify potential vulnerabilities in its drones, mobile applications, and web services.

 

Connectivity in the U.S.

A key partnership announced in August means that the Anafi Ai will be the first off-the-shelf drone to connect to Verizon’s 4G LTE network the U.S., the connectivity provided through Skyward to subscribers at no additional cost. The Skyward Connected Drone Solution is designed to give enterprises one complete experience for planning, flying, data transfer, and processing data.

Anafi Ai pilots can subscribe to a paid account or a free trial of the solution to plan with Skyward’s airspace map and fleet management tools; obtain fast, automated access to controlled airspace from the Federal Aviation Administration with LAANC; fly over Verizon 4G LTE with the Skyward InFlight mobile app; process with Skyward mapping and modeling powered by Pix4D; and transfer data during flight over 4G LTE.

“Enterprise drone programs are pushing the limits of the technology available today and advanced operators are ready for a connected, trusted, and capable drone to take their drone programs to the next level,” said Mariah Scott, Head of Verizon Robotics Business Technology. “Parrot Anafi Ai connected to Verizon 4G LTE marks an industry milestone toward distributed, remote, persistent operations that lets users fly to anywhere from anywhere with near real-time data transfer.”

“Cellular connectivity is the new communications standard for the professional drone industry,” added Seydoux. “We designed Anafi Ai’s 4G LTE connectivity, which enables precise, robust and secure control at any distance with a 4G LTE connection that avoids obstacles.”

Seydoux believes that the reliable 4G LTE connectivity on the Verizon network—combined with advanced artificial intelligence, autonomous flying, best-in-class imaging, and photogrammetry accuracy—will be a game-changer for the professional drone industry.

 

Imaging innovation

The Anafi Ai is designed to mimic nature, with its swiveling head having an omnidirectional camera to ensure precise obstacle avoidance. When obstacles are detected, the drone automatically determines the best trajectory to pursue its mission. This is enabled by embedded artificial intelligence, which allows for photogrammetry-specific flight plans to be performed automatically.

A 48-MP Quad Bayer sensor delivers survey-grade-accurate 2D and 3D models, offering the same precision as drones with a 1-in 20-MP sensor while flying 1.5 times higher. Pictures captured at 1 frame per second are said to be two times faster than any other drone in the market.

The sensor offers an HDR10 mode to catch image details in highlights and shadows. Inspection professionals can use the 6x digital zoom to observe 1 cm (0.4 in) details at a distance of 75 m (245 ft).

A controllable gimbal tilt range from -90° to +90° gives access to complex points of view such as the underside of a bridge structure. Hybrid image stabilization on six axes—three mechanical and three electronic—ensures sharp photos even in crosswinds of up to 12.7 m/s (42 ft/s).

The drone’s new Skycontroller 4 eliminates cables and enables the use of an iPad mini and large smartphones for control. It features an HDMI output, which allows for video streaming.