FAQs: UAVs, Agricultural Drones, and Monitoring Systems

Battery section shows battery voltage instead of battery volume in the “2018 Operation” APP

Possible cause:

• Operation APP is not up-to-date
• Operation APP is corrupted
• Battery main board is faulty
• Battery connector is faulty

Suggested action:

1. Ensure the Operation APP software version is up-to-date
2. Insert a different battery to the aircraft. If the battery shows volume, proceed step 3. If the battery shows voltage, proceed step 4.
3. Insert the first battery to a different aircraft. If the battery shows volume, the battery connector on the first aircraft might be faulty and couldn’t read the volume. If the battery still shows voltage, the main board inside the battery might be faulty, stop using this battery and contact technical.
4. Swap test the two batteries with a different aircraft. If the batteries show volume, check the battery connector on the first aircraft. If the batteries show voltage, re-install the Operation APP and check again
5. If the steps above can’t solve the problem, contact technician to assist

P30 2020 RPAS (Operating Efficiency)

For P30 2019/2020, a single aircraft can spray up to 14 ha per hour. The XAG system provides swarm options which allows 5 aircrafts to operate at same time, which boost the efficiency to maximum 70 ha/h. For the JetSeed, the operating efficiency is around 5 ha/h (tested with 26kg rice seeds/ha at 2.5m spread width, 6m/s flight speed).

P30 2020 RPAS (Missing Spray system)

Possible cause:

• Spray system firmware is not up-to-date
• Spray system is not connected with power board properly
• Spray board is damaged

Suggested action:

1. Check if there is any spray system firmware update
2. Restart the UAV and check if the spray system is online
3. Re-install the spray system and check if there is any damage at the connection

Atomizer speed error

Possible cause:

• The firmware of the spray system is not up-to-date
• The nozzle is broken

Suggested action:

1. Check if the firmware version of the spray system is 6.0.2.3
2. If yes, power off the UAV until the lights on the flight controller, GNSS and HDLS modules are off, then start the UAV again. If no, contact technical support to receive instruction on updating the spray system to the latest 6.0.2.3 version
3. If the nozzle still does not spin, the motor of the nozzle is broken and it’s recommended to replace the nozzle

Why XAG P-Series Aircraft don’t have foldable arms?

1. XAG Unmanned Aerial System are primarily designed for commercial purpose particularly for Agricultural Industry to carry as much payload as possible and meeting the reliable criteria. Fix arm reduces the chances of arm damage if an accident does occur
2. Foldable arm are weak points of the aircraft and (several) foldable arms will certainly be damaged if and when an accident does happen. Resulting in one of the following scenarios:
   • Lengthy repair time in field reducing efficiency significantly or;
   • Cancellation of Operation for the Day and return to base for Repair;

3. XAG Airframe design was based on thousands of hours of field trials, user feedback and flight test. Results & Experience had proven that our carbon-aluminum composite material airframe design greatly reducing the chances of any significant damages, and minor damage could be repaired/replaced in-field within 15-30mins

What is RTK? and the benefits of using RTK?

Real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning is a satellite navigation technique used to enhance the precision of position data derived from satellite-based positioning systems such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou. And the accuracy will be within ±10cm both vertically and horizontally. The key benefit of an aircraft using RTK is the pinpoint accuracy of the aircraft during flight. You and the aircraft know it's specific location at all times resulting in exact hovering, even during high winds

Insufficient Satellites

Possible cause:

• There is GPS signal interference in the field
• The RTK module of the aircraft is broken
• The connections of RTK antennas are broken

Suggested action:

1. Move the aircraft to a different field, ensure there is no signal interference in the field (power line, metal, cellular booster). If the aircraft starts to pick up satellites then there is GPS interference in the field.
2. Swap test the RTK antennas by connecting the RTK(L) cables with RTK(R) cables. If the aircraft starts to pick up satellites then the RTK antennas are faulty. (For P30 2018, the arm4 RTK antenna receives satellites and arm3 RTK receives heading accuracy, for P30 2019/2020 both antennas receive satellites and heading accuracy)
3. If the P30 still cannot pick up satellites at all after the above troubleshooting steps then the RTK module is broken, swap with a different RTK module and see if the problem can be solved. If still not contact technical support for further troubleshoot.

XMission (Operating efficiency)

Grid Pattern (2D Mapping) , 2GSD = Approximately 30ha per hr per Aircraft

Double Grid Pattern (3D Mapping), 2GSD = Approximately 15hr per hr per Aircraft

Futhermore, XAG XMission are capable of swarm operations up to 5 Aircraft per operator which it can dramatically increase the efficiency and the acreage per operation by 5 times.

Paired XMission is not online

Possible Causes:

• Previously paired with another device (E.g., A3 Pilot Phone)
• Previously paired with another Remote controller (E.g., ACB)
• Remote controller is being used by XAGRI APP
• XGeomatics APP is not the latest version
• XLink firmware is not up-to-date
• XLink firmware is faulty
• XMission is bound to a different account
• XLink hardware is faulty

XMission indicates OFFLINE Mid-Flight?

Possible Causes:

• The aircraft is out of range
• Remote controller firmware is not up-to-date
• Remote controller is positioned in the
• XLINK firmware is not up-to-date

Suggested Action:

1. Ensure the UAV is flying within the visual line of sight
2. If the XLink is disconnected when the UAV is airborne, RTH the UAV.
3. Check if there is other remote controller turned on. If yes, turn off the other remote controller
4. Ensure the remote controller is away from other transmitters ( E.g. Radio, walkie talkie, A3 pilot phone, other ACB or ACS)
5. Check if there is any firmware update on XLINK and the remote controller. If yes, update the firmwares
6. If possible, swap test with a different remote controller
7. If the other remote controller also shows unstable connection, there could be signal interference in that field, test with a different paddock
8. If still not, contact technician to assist with this issue

Missing Photos in the SD card after XMission finishing the survey task

Possible cause:

• Quick mode is turned on
• SD card is not compatible
• XLink firmware is corrupted
• Camera firmware is not up-to-date
• XMission hardware is faulty

Suggested action:

1. Ensure the quick mode is turned off (in quick mode the photos will be uploaded to cloud straight away instead of being saved in SD card)
2. Reinstall the camera, then test fly the XMission again and check if the data transmission is normal. If the data still can’t be transferred, contact technician to troubleshoot XLink firmware and inspect the camera connection. If data transfer is stuck in the middle of the transfer, go to next step. If the data is successfully transferred, check if there is data in the SD card this time. If still not, go to step 4.
3. Check if the camera icon in the operation page of the XGeomatics APP shows abnormal with red colour symbol. If yes, go to “Abnormal camera” in the troubleshooting guide. If no, insert the SD card in the laptop and go to step 4.
4. Back up all the files in the SD card then format the SD card to FAT32 format (If the SD card used is not the original SD card that comes with the XMission, ensure its storage is smaller than 32GB, SD card with over 32GB storage can’t be formatted to FAT32
5. Insert the SD card back in the XMission, tap the “clear cache” button of the camera icon in the XGeomatics APP
6. Test fly the XMission again and check if the data transmission is normal, if still not transfer, contact technician to help with the issue.

Survey map quality (Too dark or not clear enough)

Possible cause:

• Not enough sunlight when the survey is done
• Not enough overlapping rate
• Not enough resolution
• Partial photos are damaged
• Not all the photos are uploaded

Suggested action:

1. Ensure the survey is done when the weather is good (Cloudless is the best, fully overcast is acceptable if there is still enough sunlight, partially overcast is the worst)
2. Ensure the survey is done during the best time of the day when there is enough sunlight (10am-2pm)
3. Ensure there is at least 70% overlapping for single grid mission, 80% overlapping for double grid mission if you need high accuracy map
4. Lower the GSD to1.5cm/pixel or lower if you want to identify small objects
5. Ensure the quick mode is not turned on (quick mode reduces the resolution to increase processing efficiency)
6. Ensure all the photos in the SD card are in good quality (not many glitch or blurry photos)
7. Ensure all the photos are transferred in the SD card (Tap the camera icon in the operation page of XGeomatics APP to see the number of photos taken, check if this number matches the name of the last photo in this field in the SD card, if not then it means some photos are stuck in the camera cache, go back to the task in the XGeomatics APP, tap “re-copy”, the photos will be transferred from camera cache to the phone and uploaded to the cloud again)

HD map cannot be exported from XGeomatics APP

Possible cause:

• The Internet connection is not stable
• The size of the file is big
• The Internet connection with the server is not stable

Suggested action:

1. First of all, customers don’t need to subscribe the membership in the membership centre to export the data from XGeomatics APP
2. Try exporting again when there is a better internet reception or using WIFI to download
3. Try a different ratio if the original size of the map failed to download
4. If still fail to download, contact technical support to assist

XMission camera OFFLINE Mid-Flight?

Possible cause:

• The camera is overheated when the wind is too strong
• The camera is overheated after taking photos continuously for a long time
• The camera is faulty

Suggested action:

1. Ensure the weather condition is okay to fly (when the condition of wind, heat is acceptable)
2. Monitor the camera temperature during the flight; ensure the temperature is lower than 60 degrees and no “camera overheat” prompt on the screen
3. If the field that needs to be surveyed is too big, separate the big field into small fields, ensure there are less than 1000 photos are taken in each field
4. Do some more flight tests, if the camera still keeps showing offline when the above conditions are checked, check the quality of the photos in the SD card. If many photos show glitches then it’s most likely the camera is faulty, contact technical support to assist

Failed Cloud Processing

Possible cause:

• Some photos are faulty and couldn’t be used to stitch the map
• The survey is not completely finished so there are some photos missing
• Not all the photos are transferred into the SD card when the XMission is turned off
• For multispectral task, the survey is conducted when the GSD is lower than 1.0cm/pixel
• The number of the photos are greater than the capability of being processed by Cloud or XStation

Suggested action:

• Ensure the percentage of survey finished is 100% in XGeomatics APP

• Ensure the XMission is turned off after the side lights turn red from green, also monitor the number of photos in the SD card by tapping the camera icon in the XGeomatics APP, ensure the number in the SD card is the same with the number in the camera cache

• Ensure all the photos in the SD card are in good quality (no glitches, enough sunlight)

• Ensure the GSD is greater than 1.0cm/pixel when conducting multispectral survey (There isn’t enough overlapping to stitch the map when the GSD is lower than 1.0)

• Ensure there are less than 350 photos taken in one field if being processed by XStation and less than 1000 photos if by XAG Cloud

Insufficient permission to inspect Data

Possible cause:

• A different account is logged into the XMission PC upload tool so the data is uploaded to a different account, therefore the original account is not authorized to view and use the map

Suggested action:

1. In wechat, search “极飞服务”, go to“我的”, “设置”， “授权并登录”, then log in to the original account that is supposed to have the field
2. Log in XGeomatics APP with the account used in the XMission PC upload tool
3. Go to “Data” page
4. Tap the field that is supposed to be in the original account
5. Tap “Share” icon at the bottom of the screen, this will automatically direct you to wechat
6. Send the link to yourself via wechat
7. Tap the link sent to your wechat, this will authorize permission to view the map in XGeomatics APP and XAGRI APP to the original account
8. Alternatively, if you don’t have wechat, contact technician to assist with the issue

What is the Different between CM21500 XAG P-Series Rapid Charger and CM4750 XAG P-Series Charging Hub?

CM21500 XAG P-Series Rapid Charger

• Input: AC 90-260V 50/60Hz
• Output: DC 50-66V/30A
• Power: 900W(AC 90-176V)/1500W(AC 177-260V)
• Integrated Cooling Fans
• 2 Charger Slot (Not simultaneously)
• 20-25min Charge Time

CM4750 XAG P-Series Charging Hub?

• Input: AC 90-260V 50/60Hz
• Output: DC 50.4V/15A x 4
• Power: 750W
• 4 Charger Slot (Not simultaneously)
• 30-50min Charge Time

What if i forgotten my ACB/ACS Hotspot Setting?

• STEP 1 – Connect the ACB/ACS directly to your A3/Smart Device
• STEP 2 – Start APP “XAG AGRI” or “XGEOMATICS”
• STEP 3 – Tap on the ACB/ACS Icon on the corner
• STEP 4 – Edit the Hotspot Setting

ALR4 refiller station is in Chinese

Possible cause:

• The default language is Chinese when the equipment is shipped from the factory

Suggested action:

1. Press and hold the “Fill” button on the ALR4 for over 10 seconds
2. A language setting page will prompt up to let you to set the language as Chinese or English
3. The screen will shut down while the system reboots
4. The language will be changed to English after the system reboots

P-Series Battery (Locked)

Possible cause:

• The battery is locked due to over-discharged
• The battery is locked due to abnormal cell status

Suggested action:

1. Fully charge the battery, the battery cell will rebalance itself when the volume is over 80%
2. Contact technical support to receive instruction on unlocking the battery
3. If the battery is not able to be unlocked, the cell is damaged, contact technical support to assist

P-Series Battery (Low Cell Voltage)

Possible cause:

• Battery cell is damaged
• Battery cell needs to be balanced
• Battery is out of lifespan

Suggested action:

1. Check how many charges cycles the battery has, the normal charge cycles is 200 however lack of maintenance can reduce the lifespan
2. Ensure battery is charged at least once every three months, battery cell can be re-balanced automatically if the voltage level is over 4 bars, if the voltage is low the battery will stop re-balance itself
3. If the battery showing low cell voltage hasn’t been used for a long time, ensure the battery voltage level is over 4 bars and leave the battery for two days to be re-balanced
4. If the battery still shows low cell voltage after being re-balanced, the cell is permanently damaged, contact technical support to assist

XMission Battery (Overheating)

Possible cause:

• Extreme hot weather
• Battery ventilation cover is damaged
• XMission battery connector is damaged

Suggested action:

1. If the XMission is airborne, RTH or land in a safe area immediately and evacuate crowd
2. Check if there is any damage on the copper sheets of the battery. If yes, stop using this battery and contact technician to assist
3. Check if there is any damage (melt or burnt smell) on the battery connector end of the XMission . If yes, stop using this XMission and contact technician to assist

Fail to load Satellite map

Possible cause:

• The Internet connection is not stable
• There’s too much map cache in the APP

Suggested action:

1. Make sure the internet is turned on
2. Make sure there is internet coverage in the area
3. Go to “Settings” then “Clear map cache” in the APP
4. Restart the map and the map will be re-loaded

Insufficient feature points

Possible cause:

• The environment is too dark
• Terrain sensor is dirty
• UAV is tilted, not put on a flat ground
• Terrain module is faulty

Suggested action:

1. Ensure the UAV is tested when there is sufficient sunlight
2. Wipe the terrain module, ensure there is no dirt on the sensor
3. Ensure the UAV is put on a flat ground when checking the terrain module status
4. If the actions above couldn’t solve the problem, contact technical support for assistance